Report: Liverpool prepared to reject any Barcelona bid for Coutinho

Liverpool is willing to do whatever it takes to retain Barcelona target Philippe Coutinho.

The Premier League side informed Barcelona representatives that Coutinho is unavailable and that lucrative bids for the Brazilian will be rejected, according to Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph.

After months of speculation, Barcelona is reportedly prepared to make an approach for the 25-year-old with a bid believed to be worth £72 million.

However, Liverpool "made it clear" to Barcelona that efforts to sign Coutinho this summer will be unsuccessful, as he is an integral component of manager Jurgen Klopp's plans ahead of the 2017-18 Premier League campaign.

Bascombe added that there is not a scenario that will change Liverpool's stance this summer.

After Coutinho signed a new five-year contract in January, Klopp laughed off suggestions in May as to whether the club would entertain bids for the Brazilian international.

"There are absolutely no plans (to sell him)," he said. "What our owners say is there is the absolute opportunity not to sell anybody if we do not want to. That means we can bring in other players and it is a good situation. We have a stable squad with a good basis. We want to bring a few in with fresh blood but nobody will leave us without our say, so I am completely relaxed about this."

Offloading the team's star player would not go over well with a fan base who were forced to watch prolific forward Luis Suarez depart Anfield in favour of a move to Barcelona just three years ago.