The reason why Coutinho didn't get his move to Barcelona
German newspaper 'Bild' has revealed why Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho was denied his dream move to Barcelona this summer.
The end of the transfer window may have come and gone but the stories about Coutinho are still going strong.
The Brazilian was heavily linked with a move to Catalan giants Barcelona during the summer, only for Liverpool to stand firm and reject any advances for the player.
Barcelona certainly didn't enjoy the most straightforward of summer transfer windows, losing Brazilian star Neymar and failing in their attempts to sign their no 1 target to replace him, but just how close were they to doing a deal for Liverpool's talisman?
Today, German 'Bild' claims that Thomas Muller was the key to the Coutinho puzzle.
The source claims that Liverpool were prepared to sell Coutinho to Barcelona on two condititions, one being that the fee must be well in excess of €100m and the other being that Bayern Munich must first sell them Thomas Muller.
Those are the only conditions under which Coutinho would have been allowed to depart Anfield for the Camp Nou.
Jurgen Klopp was well aware of the German international's diminishing importance at the Allianz Arena under Carlo Ancelotti and was hoping to use that to tempt the player into a move to Merseyside.
However, when Bayern refused to let Muller go, Liverpool pulled the plug on any move for Coutinho, leaving that player destined to remain until Anfield until January at the very least.