Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu insists the club will be keeping all transfer business quiet amid speculation linking Philippe Coutinho to the Nou Camp.
Liverpool have already received and subsequently rejected a £72million offer for the Brazilian as well as stressing that the No.10 is not for sale this summer.
Despite the club’s insistence, a second bid looks imminent with the Catalan giants eyeing up Coutinho as their priority target and a potential replacement for Neymar, who is supposedly set to join Paris Saint-Germain.
Bartomeu kept his cards close to his chest when questioned about Coutinho, but did admit that another midfielder would be brought in.
He told Spanish outlet Sport, per the Liverpool Echo: “He’s a Liverpool player and I have a lot of respect for Liverpool, which we do in the summer is to be very discreet about everything, so we can not confirm or deny anything.”
“There will be more players (coming in), one in the middle, sure.”
Though Coutinho signed a new five-year deal at Anfield in January, reports have gone as far to suggest he is set to sit down with Klopp and ask the German to allow him to join Barcelona.
That said, this somewhat conflicts with earlier suggestions that he would also be happy to stay at Liverpool if the club were to refuse to let him leave.
Barcelona could now return with a bid upwards of £90million, although the Reds have shown no sign of altering their stance towards the 25-year-old’s situation.
Fighting off the very real interest from the Spanish giants and keeping Coutinho for at least another 12 months has emerged as the new priority.
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