'We have the situation we wanted': Jurgen Klopp planning to welcome Coutinho back into Liverpool squad

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is planning to reintegrate Philippe Coutinho into his squad at Anfield and insists the Reds have "exactly the situation that we wanted" after holding off an aggressive, prolonged pursuit from Barcelona.

Coutinho, 25, was the subject of heavy interest from Ernesto Valverde's men and had designs on swapping Merseyside for the Camp Nou this summer, but Liverpool held firm and saw fit to reject multiple offers from the Blaugrana for the Brazil international, who submitted a transfer request in the hope of pushing through a move. Barcelona claimed that the Reds set an asking price of €200m for Coutinho during the dying embers of the transfer window, but the Liverpool hierarchy have since rubbished those claims.

Coutinho has missed all of Liverpool's fixtures so far this season with a back problem but managed to feature for Brazil against Ecuador in the early hours of Friday morning (1 September). The former Inter Milan starlet managed to get his name on the scoresheet, and Klopp will hope Coutinho can have a similar effect if selected for Liverpool's match against Manchester City after the international break.

Barcelona had hoped to sign Coutinho as well as Ousmane Dembele, who was not afraid to kick up a fuss in order to secure his move to the Camp Nou. Borussia Dortmund were seemingly left with no choice but to let the France international leave the Westfalenstadion, but Klopp was keen to point out that his current team were facing a "different situation" to the one his former side had to deal with.

"We have our situation and Dortmund had a different one," he told SPORT1. "You shouldn't believe everything that has been written by the press, or said by TV channels.

"Offers here and offers there, and a minute after that it should already be over. We are not at George Orwell, where everyone has everything immediately.

"We have exactly the situation that we wanted and no other: we still have a really good player in the squad."

Liverpool have been praised for standing their ground over Coutinho, who signed a new five-year contract earlier this year, but they are facing the ever-more realistic prospect of losing influential midfielder Emre Can for free next summer.

The Germany international has less than a year left on his current deal at Anfield and is expected to sign a pre-contract agreement with Juventus, according to Tuttosport, relayed by the Independent.

Liverpool have been in negotiations with Can over fresh terms but the lack of sufficient progress in talks has allowed the Italian champions to strengthen their arm, with Juve chief Beppe Marotta making no secret of his admiration for the former Bayer Leverkusen star in recent days.