Barca send scouts to watch Coutinho ahead of January move

Following their 7-goal triumph over Maribor in the Champions League in midweek, Liverpool were promptly brought back down to earth on Sunday as they were ruthlessly taken apart by Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. However, the worst news is still to come, with reports that Barcelona officials were in attendance at the game to check on the progress of playmaker Philippe Coutinho.

Robert Fernandez, Barca's technical secretary, was present at England's national stadium to watch the Brazilian, with Spanish publication 'Mundo Deportivo' reporting that there is an agreement in place between the two sides that will see the 25-year-old swap Liverpool for Barcelona in January.

Coutinho was key in keeping his side in the game in the first half, before Spurs' superior quality eventually told.

To make matters worse for Liverpool fans, manager Jurgen Klopp refused to rule out selling Coutinho in January during his pre-match press conference, merely saying:  'I have no idea. We will see. We do not talk about things like this. Can you imagine what it would be like to say "yes, we have an agreement"? 

'Right now, the truth is that nobody thinks about this. We do not talk about that, why should we?

'In general, as a club, we have to create a situation in which players want to be part of everything they have. At this point, we have this. Nobody thinks about January, nobody thinks about June or July. 

'Everyone wants to be part of this, but there will be transfer windows and we will see what happens.'

The Brazilian is known to have been disappointed after failing to seal a move during the summer, but has once again shone since being reintegrated into the Liverpool squad, scoring four times in eight games.

It seems like Barcelona are determined to get their man, will Liverpool be able to hold off the Catalans for a second time?