Coutinho will be a Barcelona player once Liverpool land replacement, fee agreed for Brazilian

Philippe Coutinho will be a Barcelona player before 31 August, the closing date of the summer transfer window, as Liverpool have softened their stance following a fifth offer from the Catalan club. The Reds are keen to find a replacement before announcing the Brazilian's deal.

The Brazilian midfielder was reportedly informed of their decision to permit him to leave the club this summer before he departed on international duty with Brazil.

According to Yahoo Sport, Barcelona have agreed to pay €160m (£148m, $191.3m) including all performance related add-ons which once completed will be a British and Spanish record and only second to Paris Saint-Germain's world record €222m paid for Neymar earlier in the summer.

Coutinho has been pushing for a move since the transfer saga began and even handed in an official transfer request. The Merseyside club remained adamant that he is not for sale and have rejected four offers thus far with the latest being an offer of around £136m.

However, recent reports from Spain suggested that Liverpool's owners the Fenway Sports Group have agreed to negotiate a potential sale after a positive meeting with the midfielder's representatives despite initially indicating that he is not for sale. Moreover, claims that Coutinho had missed Liverpool's opening three games due to injury and illness were debunked after he was passed fit to play for Brazil in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Colombia.

The 25-year-old midfielder is not keen on returning to England after the international break and is hoping the two clubs complete the deal before Thursday's transfer deadline. The Yahoo report claims that Liverpool have requested Barcelona to hold off on any announcement until they secure a replacement for the Brazil international.

The Merseyside club have identified Thomas Lemar as an ideal replacement for Coutinho and have moved to secure his signature from AS Monaco. The Principality club, however, are reluctant to sanction the sale of another key player and have rejected two offers from the Reds with the latest said to be around £64.8m.

Liverpool, however, are not giving up their chase and are expected to make another offer before the end of the transfer window and are now willing to offer striker Divock Origi as part of any deal to bring Lemar to Anfield.