Barcelona are stepping up their chase for Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho. The 25-year-old put in an official transfer request on Friday and now the Catalan giants sense that this is the time to close out the deal despite strong opposition from the Premier League side.
 

According to Spanish portal Don Balon, the Blaugrana are ready to offer €80M plus Portuguese midfield duo Andre Gomes and Rafinha. Barcelona chiefs are reportedly ready to offload players who are cluttering up the club’s payroll and new boss Ernesto Valverde has targeted the aforementioned players as the ones who he can do without next term.
 

Coutinho missed this afternoon’s trip to Watford through injury and is unlikely to play for the rest of the month. With Liverpool set to meet Hoffenheim in the first-leg of their Champions League play-off next week, it would mean that the Brazilian would be eligible to play for any potential new club in the competition should he make the move away from Anfield.