Barcelona technical secretary 'watched' Philippe Coutinho during Liverpool 4-1 defeat at Tottenham

Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez has added more fuel to speculations linking the Catalans with a January move for Philippe Coutinho after being spotted in London following Liverpool's 4-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday (22 October).

Both Sport and Mundo Deportivo report that Fernandez and club scout Urbano Ortega were in attendance at Wembley to keep tabs on the Brazilian ace as the Catalans are expected to make a new attempt to lure him away from Liverpool ahead of the second part of the season.

Sport indeed believes that Barcelona "took another step towards signing" the Brazilian ace with that trip after showing a picture of the two chiefs at Gatwick airport on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, Mundo Deportivo points out that Barcelona "have an agreement" with Coutinho since the last summer transfer window and wanted to show the player that they remain interested in getting his services.

Yet, the Catalan publication suggests that Fernandez could also run the rule over Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Davinson Sanchez and Dele Alli after last week the Barcelona technical secretary was also spotted at the Santiago Bernabeu during the thrilling Champions League 1-1 draw between Tottenham and Real Madrid.

Earlier this month Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau said that the La Liga leaders are financially "ready" to sign the Liverpool ace or "any other player the technical staff request" during the upcoming winter window.

Mundo Deportivo last week said that Coutinho's agent Kia Joorabchian was expected to meet with Liverpool officials in the coming days in a bid to convince them to part ways with the Brazilian ace in January in a deal worth around €80m (£71.3m, $93.9m) plus €30m in add-ons.

Liverpool already turned down an offer worth that much in the summer but Jurgen Klopp was coy last week when asked whether he sees Coutinho at Anfield next season.

"I've no clue," the Liverpool boss said. "We will see. We don't talk about things like this. Can you imagine what it would be like if I said, 'Yes, we have an agreement?'

"In this moment, the 100% truth is that nobody thinks about this. We don't talk about it, why should we? In both cases it would not make sense -- no, there is no agreement, yes, there is an agreement. It is not important in the moment. We have other moments when we have to talk about these things but not in October."

"In general, as a club, we have to still create a situation where players want to be part of it with all they have. In this moment, we have this. Nobody thinks about January, nobody thinks of June or July. Everyone wants to be part of this but there will come transfer windows and we will see what happens."