Barcelona boss opens up over £142m Coutinho deal

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has given little away after being questioned on Saturday about the club’s ongoing pursuit of Philippe Coutinho.

Spanish newspaper AS claims Barcelona have finally reached an agreement with Liverpool, which will see the Reds receive a club-record €160million (£142million). Further reports suggest the fee will see Barcelona pay €120million  (£106million) up front – with the additional €40million in add-ons.

And in a further sign that the deal could be close, Coutinho will not travel with his Liverpool team-mates to Dubai for a warm-weather break.

Barcelona are due to face Levante at the Nou Camp on Sunday and Valverde was, predictably, questioned about the chances of Coutinho signing before the match kicked off.

He said: “He is a great player, just like there are great players who ask me permanently, I admit it, but what I like is to value what I have, nobody has been signed in.

“It does not mean that we do not value the great players who there is for the world, but we also have great players.

“The fans what they want, apart from good players, is that their team wins and plays well, that is, from my perspective, what we can give.

“The other, I am not such a Wizard King as to promise that.”

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Ousmane Dembele, meanwhile,  is likely to again start amongst the substitutes when Barcelona face Levante on Sunday.

The 20-year-old, a €105million signing in August, suffered a hamstring injury on his LaLiga debut for Barca in September, but came off the bench in the midweek 1-1 Copa del Rey draw at Celta Vigo.

The Frenchman has been included in Barca’s squad to face Levante, and though coach Ernesto Valverde said he could start, another substitute appearance seems more likely.

“Everyone on the list has the possibility of starting,” Valverde said in a press conference. “I have already said that we have to be careful with him because he has to get involved with the team’s dynamics again.”

Barcelona will begin the match with a six-point lead at the top of the table following Atletico Madrid’s victory over Getafe on Saturday, and are overwhelming favourites against a Levante side languishing in 16th place.

But Valverde warned his players that Levante can be a more dangerous proposition away from home – having lost only one of their seven matches on the road this season, drawing five and winning one.

“They are a team that is doing better away from home than at home,” Valverde said. “They have only lost a single match. We have to work hard to win this match. We respect the opponent a lot.”