Coutinho believes Liverpool have two £90m stars lined up to replace him

Philippe Coutinho is reportedly aware that his former club Liverpool have lined up one of two potential replacements for him this summer.
The Brazilian midfielder left Anfield early in the January window in a £142million switch to Barcelona.
While the Reds still had three weeks of the window to spend their investment, they opted instead to bide their time and it now seems any long-term replacement for the player will be sought when the summer window opens again.
According to Spanish outlet Don Balon, the Brazil international knows of two players that Liverpool are keen to bring to Anfield.
First up, it’s claimed that Real Madrid have agreed to sell Gareth Bale this summer. They go on to claim that the Welsh star is keen on an exit from the Bernabeu after a difficult 18 months with the club, with Coutinho aware of Bale’s situation due to recent reported interest from Liverpool.
Don Balon stated that Liverpool are ready to spend up to £88million on the former Spurs star this summer.
However, Liverpool will not have a free run at Bale, as it is claimed that Manchester United also remain interested, while talks have reportedly been held over a move to Chelsea.
Furthermore, it’s claimed Coutinho does not believe Bale is Liverpool’s first choice, with the outlet, as well as Le10 Sport also reporting that Jurgen Klopp has identified Monaco star Thomas Lemar, rated at around £90m, as his No 1 target this summer.
It all remains to be seen what Liverpool will do this summer, but Klopp insisted at the weekend that the Reds owners FSG are prepared to spend big to sanction a possible title tilt next season.
“This club will do what we have to do, the owners are ready for that,” Klopp said.
“That (Van Dijk) was the sign for it but it doesn’t mean we only spend in this category.
“We cannot say the exact numbers, I don’t even know them, but was it £40million for Mo Salah?
“I would say that’s decent money but now it looks like ‘what’s that?’. Everybody asks in Rome ‘how can you do that?’. That’s strange.
“When the player is the right player it is not important how expensive he was. He needs to fit in the team, that’s why we paid the price for Virgil.”
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