Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp WILL be handed full £130million to reinvest in the squad if Philippe Coutinho joins Barcelona
Reds are all-but resigned to losing their "Little Magician" this winter... but will be handed a major boost from the board
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LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp WILL be handed the full £130million to reinvest in his squad if Philippe Coutinho joins Barcelona in January.
The Reds are all-but resigned to losing their "Little Magician" this winter... but will be handed a major boost from the board.
Liverpool are expected to splash around £70m on Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, with £60m to replace Coutinho.
Klopp had been chasing the Dutch centre-back all summer, but were put off after Saints threatened to report them for an "illegal" approach.
However, with the Reds struggling mightily in their defensive ranks, the German boss is likely to go back in for him.
With the board reportedly promising to give Klopp the full transfer sum from the Coutinho sale, that could leave around £60m to spend.
Liverpool have also been linked with stars including Julian Draxler and Thomas Lemar - who could be available for around that fee in January.
Draxler has slipped down the pecking order at Paris Saint-Germain since the arrival of Neymar - despite only joining the Ligue 1 giants in January.
Meanwhile, the Reds were said to be close to signing Lemar in the summer, with Arsenal also hot in pursuit.
Barcelona are now "ready" to sign Coutinho, according to CEO Oscar Grau, but will likely need to offload up to five players to free up funds for the Brazilian playmaker.
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Grau claimed: "We are ready to buy Coutinho in the winter market, or any player the technical staff request.
"But it is important to adjust ourselves, so if there are to be arrivals, there must be exits as well.
"We must forget about the price paid for Neymar last summer.
"After taxes we received about €188m (£169m) in income and a direct financial impact on the club's treasury of €144m (£129m)."
Coutinho appears to have his heart set on the move, with Liverpool increasingly likely to grant him his request in the coming months.
