- Liverpool’s interest in Thomas Lemar is genuine and a bid is planned for January
- Club have no plans to offload Coutinho and want the Frenchman on top of current attack
- Catalan reports that ‘Coutinho to Barca’ all but done are false
- SEE MORE: £90m superstar chooses Liverpool over Arsenal before Friday’s clash
Liverpool’s January bid for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar is not dependant at all on the club cashing in on Coutinho, EOTK can reveal.
A source close to Anfield has informed us that this winter Liverpool will go in for the Frenchman while continuing our ‘Not for Sale’ stance on Phil.
Yesterday, Catalan outlet SPORT published a lengthy editorial which suggested Barcelona’s Coutinho transfer is virtually finalised – with a fee mooted around £132m – but Liverpool have not changed our position from the summer.
Liverpool have not sat down with Barca about a sale, nor have any plans to do so in the immediate future, despite the player’s obvious and irrefutable longing for a Nou Camp switch.
We are not privy to whether Coutinho’s representatives have met Barca’s, but Liverpool will not significantly weaken the side mid-season when we’re still in the Champions League.
This January, Coutinho will not be sold by Liverpool, who have witnessed the no.10 enjoying the best form of his life in the months following his infamous transfer request, to his credit.
The Independent suggested last night that the Lemar interest is ‘semi-tied’ to Coutinho exit plans, but we understand that at the moment, they are separate.
The plan is to beat Arsenal to the 22-year-old’s signature and use him for the remainder of the season alongside our current batch of elite attackers.
Monaco rejected £90m for his services in the summer though from the Gunners, so it’s going to take a whopping fee to convince them to sell next month.
Klopp though thinks the prodigal France international will be the perfect supplement to his already plush attack. Lemar can dribble, pass and shoot – as shown by the fact he has 13 goals and 18 assists since the beginning of last season.
Coutinho may depart next summer, but the rumours that Liverpool will give in to a January sale are false.