Leaked Emails Show Details of Multiple Bids & Reds' Demands That Barcelona 'Stop Harassing' Coutinho

Liverpool's summer was anything but straight forward as they were involved in a public tussle with Barcelona over Philippe Coutinho, and leaked emails have now been brought to the fore which show the Reds asking the Spanish outfit to 'stop harassing' their star man.

Barcelona failed with three substantial sized bids during their summer pursuit of the Brazilian as

Liverpool remained firm in their stance that Coutinho would not be sold for any price. 

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German newspaper Der Spiegel have now made the email correspondence between the two clubs public, in which the emails show the first offer of a fee in the region of £72m was rejected on July 20.

As Liverpool's Sports Director Michael Edwards wrote to Barcelona's Chairman, Òscar Grau: "Unfortunately, Philippe can not be sold at any price and, as you know, he has recently extended his contract with us.

Barcelona then returned in the hope of negotiating as they made a bid of €90m with add-ons up to €40m, but Edwards remained firm: "I ask you amicably to stop harassing Coutinho publicly and privately. No amount of money will change our minds."

The La Liga giants obviously did not find the message clear enough as they then submitted a third bid of £114m, which was also rejected by the Reds. 

Further reports from the German outlet, who worked in tandem with Football Leaks, suggest Coutinho would have earned a guaranteed £101m for a five-year contract - which would have seen the 25-year-old earn in the same bracket as the likes of Luis Suárez, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, and Andrés Iniesta. 

Coutinho's agent would have also received €10m if a transfer fee of €100m was not exceeded.

The 25-year-old has since featured three times for Liverpool and is expected to make his second Premier League start of the season against Leicester on Saturday night.