Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool have no intention of selling Philippe Coutinho amid Barcelona interest

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool have no intention of allowing their star player Philippe Coutinho to leave Anfield, despite interest from Barcelona. The La Liga giants are planning a £60m ($72.9m) move for the Brazil international, but the Reds are not willing to let the playmaker leave either in January or in the summer.

The 24-year-old last featured in his side's 2-0 win over Sunderland at Anfield on 26 November. An ankle injury saw him leave the pitch on a stretcher and he has recovered as he returned to full training last week.

Liverpool will make a trip to St Mary's Stadium as they take on Southampton in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg tie on 11 January. The former Borussia Dortmund manager has already confirmed Coutinho will get some minutes against the Saints.

The Merseyside club's coach confirmed that his side's desire to hold on to the star player will not see Barcelona end their interest in Coutinho. The latest injury setback will also not stop them from pursuing their chase in securing the South American midfielder's signature.

"We never had any ideas or plans or any talks about him leaving, because he is our player – there are no other ideas, nothing has changed," Klopp explained, as quoted by the Mirror.

"Big clubs don't think in this way unfortunately. It was not a big injury so there was no question of him not being the same player afterwards.

"It would be nice if big clubs forgot about a player completely because he's been injured for five or six weeks. I am not sure it's like this though, but he is our player and that is it."

The return of Coutinho from injury will be a massive boost for Liverpool as they prepare to take on Manchester United in the next Premier League clash at Old Trafford on 15 January.