Barcelona looking to offload Gerard Deulofeu as they continue their pursuit of Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona are looking to make room for the potential arrival of Philippe Coutinho and could offload Gerard Deulofeu, who has struggled for gametime since rejoining the club in the summer.

The Spanish winger left the Catalan club on a permanent basis in 2015 after struggling to break into the first team at the Camp Nou and joined Premier League outfit Everton. He spent one-and-a-half seasons at Merseyside before being sent out on loan to AC Milan at the start of 2017.

Deulofeu impressed while on loan in Italy and earned a recall from his boyhood club, who bought him from Everton for €6m (£5.3m) more than they sold him for in 2015. The move, however, has not worked out as he has started just five La Liga games under Ernesto Valverde despite Ousmane Dembele, their star signing of the summer from Borussia Dortmund, being injured.

According to Italian publication Calcio Mercato, Deulofeu could be open to a move away from Barcelona with clubs in the Serie A interested in signing the winger. The report claims that Inter Milan and league leaders Napoli are interested in signing him while AC Milan could also join the race owing to his success at the San Siro in the second-half of last season.

Inter are said to be keen on signing him on a loan deal, but the Catalan giants are said to want to offload him on a permanent basis. However, the report suggests that Barcelona could be open to a loan deal as well with an obligation to buy at the end of the current campaign.

Meanwhile, according to the Express, the La Liga leaders are keen to offload Deulofeu in order to make space for Coutinho, who has been their primary target since the summer. Barcelona failed with as many as three bids for the Liverpool midfielder, but are expected to return with a fresh offer in the upcoming January transfer window. If the move goes through, he is expected to sign a five-year deal worth €230,000 per week (£203,000 per week).

The Brazilian midfielder handed in a transfer request in the summer in the hope of forcing a move to the Camp Nou, but the Reds refused to stand down as they were adamant that he was not for sale at any price.

The Premier League outfit's stance is said to have softened and, according to Spanish publication Sport, Liverpool are ready to sell to Barcelona but only if they meet their valuation of the player. The English club want a cash-only deal and are not willing to accept a swap involving player-plus-cash.