Barcelona will offer Ivan Rakitic to try and tempt Liverpool into selling Philippe Coutinho.
Barcelona have not given up hope of signing Philippe Coutinho just yet and are prepared to use Ivan Rakitic as a makeweight to tempt Liverpool into selling, according to the Mirror.
Rumours linking Coutinho with a move to the Camp Nou refuse to go away, despite the fact the Reds are said to have put a £133m price-tag on the Brazilian to try and ward off interest.
Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp does not want to sell the 25-year-old after he played such a key role for the club last season as they finished fourth in the table and secured a place back in the Champions League for this term.
Yet Barca are very keen to sign Coutinho and are prepared to use one of the stalwarts from their own team to try and convince the Merseysiders to sell.
Rakitic joined the Catalans from Sevilla three years ago and has since made 159 appearances in all competitions, winning two La Liga titles, three Spanish Cups and the Champions League – scoring in the final.
The Croatian is certainly a talented midfielder and his arrival at Anfield would soften the blow of a potential departure of Coutinho, but Klopp is still unlikely to want to sell arguably his best player.
Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona celebrates as he scores their second goal against Real Madrid.
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