Liverpool have rejected a bid of €125m from Barcelona for Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian star has been heavily linked with switch to Barca, who are looking for another attacker after selling former player Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth €222m.
According to Melissa Reddy, a third bid from the Catalan giants for Coutinho has been rejected by the Reds, who earlier in the window release a statement insisting the former Inter Milan player is not for sale.
BBC Sports also believe a third bid has been submitted for the player, who has handed in transfer request to the club he joined back in 2013 for £8.5m.
The new bid is reportedly worth €80m up front with a further €45m in add-ons but the Reds have immediately rebuffed the offer, maintaining their claim that Coutinho is not for sale.
#LFC have immediately rejected a third bid from #FCB for Philippe Coutinho of €125 million. pic.twitter.com/ihqaEESTTW
— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) August 18, 2017
The player is an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s side that finished fourth in the Premier League last season, helping the Reds reach the qualifying stages of the Champions League.
Liverpool now look well set to reach the group stages after thrashing Hoffenheim 2-1 in the first leg but have played their first matches of this season without the Brazilian, who is out of the first-team squad with a reported back injury.
Barcelona were disappointing during the Supercopa de Espana, where they went down as 5-1 losers on aggregate to bitter rivals Real Madrid, also losing Luis Suarez to a knee injury for the opening matches of the La Liga season.
Barca played with three centre-backs in the absence of another forward on Wednesday during the second leg of the Supercopa de Espana, with Suarez playing up front with Lionel Messi.