Philippe Coutinho points to lengthy Liverpool contract amid 'complicated' Barcelona rumours

Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho has once again addressed the prospect of a potential summer move to Barcelona, labelling such transfer speculation as "complicated" and reiterating that he still has several years remaining on his current contract at Anfield.

Barcelona have been persistently linked with Coutinho over recent months, with Catalan daily Sport claiming in May that the player, supposedly seen as a replacement for either Andres Iniesta or Ivan Rakitic, had already said yes to a switch and that Liverpool were holding out for a fee of €90m (£79.6m, $100.7m).

Coutinho has not shied away from discussing those rumours and did so again this week while on international duty with Brazil, whom he will captain in a friendly against Australia on Tuesday night (13 June) after playing the full 90 minutes of a 1-0 defeat to rivals Argentina in Melbourne.

"Talking about this is complicated," he was quoted as saying by Goal. "I have a contract with my club and it is long. So my focus is on the present and the national team. My focus is here."

Coutinho has emerged as a pivotal player for Liverpool since arriving on Merseyside from Inter Milan in a cut-price £8.5m deal four years ago. The attacking midfielder, who turned 25 on Monday, notched 14 goals and laid on nine assists in 36 appearances across all competitions last term despite missing six weeks with ankle ligament damage suffered in November.

He has featured more than 160 times for the Reds to date and in January put pen to paper on a new five-year contract on reported wages of £150,000-a-week that made him the club's highest-paid player.

Coutinho played a pivotal role in helping Liverpool secure a return to the Champions League in 2016-17, bagging a brace in the penultimate match of the season against West Ham United and curling home a free-kick in a vital final day win over relegated Middlesbrough.

Addressing his future last month, manager Jurgen Klopp insisted categorically that he would not be sold.

"When did he sign his new contract?" he said. "There are absolutely no plans (to sell). What our owners say is there is the absolute opportunity not to sell anybody if we do not want to. That means we can bring in other players and it is a good situation.

"We have a stable squad with a good basis. We want to bring a few in with fresh blood, but nobody will leave us without our say so I am completely relaxed about this."