Report: Barcelona Close to Securing Coutinho

According to Barcelona’s general manager, Josep Segura, the Spanish club is close to finalising a deal for the services of Liverpool midfielder, Philippe Coutinho.

Liverpool reportedly rejecting Barcelona’s second bid of £90.4 million for the Brazilian international last week.

“We know that we have to strengthen the team and that’s what we will continue to do in the coming days…We have to help the team. We’re close [to Coutinho and Dembele], we’re talking about the conditions but until everything is finalised, we can’t say anything else. We hope they will wear a Barca shirt,” Segura said.

While Coutinho still has five years left on his contract with Liverpool, he has been linked with a move to Barcelona for quite some time. Earlier in the year, it was reported that the 25-year-old handed in a transfer request to Liverpool management.

Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde, is on a mission to strengthen his team with new signings, especially after their record-breaking sale of superstar, Neymar, to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.

The pressure on Barca to perform has increased recently, after the they lost to rivals, Real Madrid, in the Spanish Super Cup final on Wednesday.