Deal reached for Philippe Coutinho move from Liverpool to Barcelona
Philippe Coutinho is to realise his dream of moving to Barcelona despite Liverpool's "great reluctance" to let the Brazilian playmaker leave Anfield for a British record fee worth up to £142million.
The 25-year-old was the subject of a £118million bid from the Catalan club in August, an approach Liverpool rejected, but he is now heading to the Nou Camp after a deal was agreed on Saturday.
A statement read: "Liverpool can confirm Philippe Coutinho will be leaving the club after a transfer agreement was reached with Barcelona, subject to medical and agreement of personal terms.
"The player now has permission to complete the usual formalities to conclude the transfer immediately."
Barcelona made Coutinho their number-one target after his countryman Neymar made a world-record £200.6million move to Paris St Germain in August and he will sign a five-and-a-half-year contract.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp stressed his club had done everything possible to persuade Coutinho to remain at Anfield, but revealed the player had been "desperate" to move to Spain ever since July.
"A wonderful person and a fantastic player"
"It is with great reluctance that we - as a team and club - prepare to say farewell to a good friend, a wonderful person and a fantastic player in Philippe Coutinho," Klopp said on Liverpool's website.
"It is no secret that Philippe has wanted this move to happen since July, when Barcelona first made their interest known.
"Philippe was insistent with me, the owners and even his team-mates this was a move he was desperate to make happen.
"Despite that, we managed to keep the player here beyond the summer window, hoping that we would be able to persuade him to stay and be part of what we are looking to do.
"I can tell the Liverpool supporters that we, as a club, have done everything within our means to convince Philippe that remaining part of Liverpool was as attractive as moving to Spain, but he is 100 per cent certain his future - and that of his family - belongs at Barcelona.
"It is his dream and I am now convinced there is nothing left at our disposal to change his mind."
After being rebuffed by Liverpool when making three bids for Coutinho in the summer, Barcelona instead bought French forward Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for £93million.
That initially reassured Liverpool fans that Coutinho would not be pursued again, but Dembele has missed the last four months of action through injury and speculation about a renewed Catalonian bid for the Anfield favourite grew ever louder heading into the new year.
The saga took an unexpected turn when Nike reportedly advertised a Barcelona shirt for sale with the Brazilian's name on it in late December. The page is no longer on the website.
Record Premier League sale
Press Association Sport understands the fee for Coutinho consists of an initial 120 million euros (£106.5million), with a further 40 million euros (£35.5million) hinging on add-ons involved in the signing.
Barcelona said the buy-out fee in his new contract will be 400 million euros (£354.5million).
He had not played for Liverpool since the January transfer window opened because of a thigh problem and did not travel with the squad for their warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
Coutinho instead headed to Spain to formalise his transfer on Saturday night and it is expected he will be presented by LaLiga leaders Barcelona on Sunday or Monday.
The Rio-born player arrived at Anfield from Inter Milan for £8.5million in January 2013 and scored 54 goals for the Reds across his appearances in all competitions, although he won no silverware during his five-year stay.
Sky Bet specials
Coutinho is 11/4 to score on his LaLiga debut with Sky Bet, who offer 7/1 that such a goal comes from outside the box.
It's 16/1 that a debut goal is complemented by strikes from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi and he's 12/1 to score against Liverpool next season.
Punters can have 11/4 that Coutinho bags 10 or more goals over the remainder of the LaLiga season and it's 500/1 that he manages at least 20.
Coutinho: By the numbers
201 - Appearances for Liverpool
152 - Premier League appearances
54 - Goals for Liverpool
41 - Premier League goals
35 - Assists in the Premier League
14 - Coutinho was Liverpool's leading goalscorer last season
8.5million - Fee (in pounds) paid by Liverpool for the Brazilian's services
1 - Coutinho's only red card for Liverpool came in a 3-0 defeat by West Ham in August 2015
32 - Caps for Brazil
8 - International goals
0 - Trophies won with Liverpool
Biggest transfers in history
1. Neymar, Barcelona to Paris St Germain, 2017, £200.6million
2. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018, £106.4m
3. Ousmane Dembele, Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017, £96.8m
4. Paul Pogba, Juventus to Manchester United, 2016, £89m
5. Gareth Bale, Tottenham to Real Madrid, 2013, £85.3m
6. Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United to Real Madrid, 2009, £80m
7. Gonzalo Higuain, Napoli to Juventus, 2016, £75.3m
8= Romelu Lukaku, Everton to Manchester United, 2017, £75m
8= Virgil van Dijk, Southampton to Liverpool, 2018, £75m
10. Luis Suarez, Liverpool to Barcelona, 2014, £65m.