Barcelona preparing £120m bid for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona are willing to pay up to £120m ($155m) for the transfer of Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho to the Camp Nou, as they look to bring in replacements for Neymar. This will make the Brazilian the second most expensive player in the world despite Jurgen Klopp's protestations that the midfielder is not for sale.

The Times reports that Coutinho is not pushing for a move, having signed a long term contract last season but the Catalans are desperate to bring in more reinforcements given the amount of money they have recouped from the transfer of Neymar who joined Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record €222m (£200m, $262m) deal earlier this month.

Klopp has been clear about his intentions in retaining all his key players and is said to have the full backing of the club's hierarchy. However, despite his repeated denials, Liverpool omitted the 25-year-old from their squad for their final pre-season friendly in Dublin against Athletic Bilbao with a back injury, leading to talk about a possible departure.

According to ESPN Brasil, Barcelona have reached an agreement with Liverpool, which will allow the Spanish side to acquire Coutinho. The Catalan's chief Pep Segura has however refused to divulge any details when asked if the Spanish giants are in for the midfielder.

But asked by the Spanish TV whether the deal is close, Segura just replied: "If Coutinho's [deal] is heating up, it's because we are in August and it's very warm. He is the player of another club so we can't say anything about him right now. We are working on two or three options to improve the great squad of players we already have."

Segura also urged the club move on from Neymar's departure and stated: "Neymar is gone, these things always surprise but the Brazilian now form part of our brilliant history. There is nothing more to comment. We need to talk about the future."