Guillem Balague Claims Barcelona Are Sending Mixed Signals in Continued Pursuit of Liverpool Star

In the never-ending saga that continues to fill the headlines, Barcelona are refusing to back down in their pursuit of Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho, even after Liverpool rejected a number of bids in the summer.

Speaking to Sky Sports, as quoted by the Daily Express, La Liga expert Guillem Balague believes Barca could still move to La Liga in January.

However, Balague also thinks the 2015 Champions League winners are sending mixed signals in the media.

“The latest rumours comes from Oscar Grau, the CEO of Barcelona, who said ‘if we wanted to sign Coutinho in January, we can," Balague said.

“But remember that’s what he said, he’s not saying ‘we’re going to go for Philippe Coutinho ’. Are they interested? Of course they are.

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Despite sitting comfortably clear at the top of La Liga five points clear of rivals Real and Atletico Madrid, the Blaugrana are showing signs of weakness and could come undone if injuries or suspensions took a toll.

With Andres Iniesta the wrong side of 30 and new signing Ousmane Dembélé injured, they have missed the creativity of Neymar, who has made an immediate impact at PSG. 

Balague claims it will take some convincing to persuade Liverpool to part with their star, but if they do and add a couple more, they could be a formidable force.

“A [Marco] Verratti, another [Andres] Iniesta, that kind of player, and a Coutinho, added the Sky Sports pundit. 

"So of course they are still interested in Coutinho, they’ve got everything sorted with the player, we’ve all known that for months but will they convince Liverpool? That’s the question mark.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen in January, I don’t think they’ve got intention of making it in January. The words of Oscar Grau were ‘if we had to pay for him, we’ve got the money for him’.”