Liverpool told to consider £80m Philippe Coutinho sale as Barcelona loom large

Selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for £80m (€89.6m) would be "good business" for Liverpool, according to former Reds midfielder Danny Murphy.

Coutinho's future has been thrown into doubt in recent days, with reports stating that Barcelona are confident of luring the Brazil international to the Camp Nou this summer.

Liverpool have no interest in selling their star attacker just two weeks before the Premier League season starts and have placed a £133m (€150m, $174m) price tag on Coutinho in order to scare off Barcelona, who could receive a major cash injection if Neymar decides to join Paris Saint-Germain.

While Murphy understands Liverpool's desire to eke every penny out of Barcelona should they decide to part with Coutinho, the former Tottenham and Fulham midfielder does not think his old club will be able to command a fee north of £100m and believes a deal worth around £80m would be seen as good business for Jurgen Klopp's side.

"There comes a point where if a player expresses a desire to go, there is sense in getting as much money as you can for him," Murphy told TalkSport. "If they're talking about £199m for Neymar, you can't put Coutinho in Neymar's league at the moment.

"He's not worth £150m, could they get £100m for him? Maybe. If Barcelona are prepared to pay over £80m for Coutinho, I think that's good business."

Liverpool have been remarkably quiet so far this summer, but did manage to complete the signing of attacker Mohamed Salah from Roma last month. Murphy commended the arrival of the former Chelsea man and believes he is a "ready-made replacement" for Coutinho, despite not being as creative as his current Liverpool teammate.

"Liverpool have been clever in getting Salah," Murphy added. "Maybe they signed him because they thought if Coutinho goes they've got a ready-made replacement.

"I think with Salah and Mane in the wide positions they would be more dynamic. They'd lose a bit of creativity that Coutinho brings, but there are players out there you could get for less money who might give you just as much output."