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No news on Coutinho despite reported new Barcelona bid, says Klopp

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 19 Aug 2017

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says there is no further news on Philippe Coutinho’s future in the wake of a reported £114million offer from Barcelona.

The Catalans are said to have seen their latest bid, which was claimed to have been structured using a number of clauses and bonus payments, immediately rejected by Liverpool this week.

The club’s stance has always been that Coutinho is not for sale, despite the Brazil star having submitted a transfer request, with Klopp saying on Friday that he sees no reason for the player to want to leave.

Klopp is in contact with Liverpool’s owners about the situation and insists there has been no development over the last few days.

“Nothing new from the injury side and if I speak to the owners, I don’t think this is the situation where I should talk about it,” he said when asked about Coutinho, who remains sidelined with a back problem.

“I’m informed about everything that happens in the club but nothing changed. I don’t say there was another bid, only that nothing changed.”

Klopp was speaking after his side battled to a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield, with Sadio Mane scoring the only goal of the game to seal their first league win of the season.

The former Borussia Dortmund boss was dumbfounded by the suggestion that the Reds had already been facing scrutiny in the wake of last week’s 3-3 draw with Watford, but he did praise his side for producing an improved defensive display.

He continued: “Obviously my decision not to read the English press was the best decision of my life. Were we already under pressure? ‘All the criticism around’?

“The defending was outstanding. Crystal Palace started playing football last week and then Huddersfield Town were 2-0 up and they went a little more direct. I think we defended this outstanding, good. 

“That was one problem we had against Watford: we were too early, too deep.

“The first half could have been better, 100 per cent. Offensive football is about making the right decision at the right moment and we didn’t see the spaces often enough. But we showed the players at half-time where the spaces were.”

Andrew Robertson performed well on his competitive debut, while youngster Joe Gomez produced a strong showing at right-back, and Klopp was delighted to see his decision to rotate his full-backs pay off.

“Everybody could see how good Robbo, especially with a few more sessions, can be, especially in offensive situations. You can put a lot of pressure on yourself and he did really well,” he said.

“For Joe, it was no surprise. Even when he was long injured, it was a difficult time for him, but no doubt about the quality.”

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