Liverpool’s Braced For Coutinho Interest

Despite the summer transfer window being closed there is still plenty of gossip in the newspapers, so we’ll keep you up to date on all the latest transfer news. Today, Atletico Madrid want Philippe Coutinho in January.

Atletico Madrid will make renewed attempts to prize Philippe Coutinho away from Liverpool in January if they manage to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, according to the Mirror.

The report claims that the Spaniard’s had their eye on Coutinho in the summer and made initial enquiries over his availability, but Liverpool told them in no uncertain terms that the playmaker wasn’t for sale.

However, this doesn’t seem to have deterred Atletico with the Mirror suggesting they will renew their interest when the transfer window re-opens in January and will table a formal bid as long as they qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The La Liga outfit currently sit top of Group G after beating Zenit St Petersburg 3-1 in their opening game while they are also level on points with Barcelona at the top of the domestic table with a 1-0 win over Real Madrid on Saturday maintaining their 100% start to the season.

Coutinho also enjoyed an excellent start to the new campaign as he briefly led Liverpool to the top of the Premier League with some fine early displays, but he’s currently on the sidelines recovering from a shoulder injury picked up against Swansea earlier this month and is likely to be out until November.

The Brazilian has become a key figure for the Reds and I don’t expect they will entertain any interest in the 21-year-old this winter, so you get the feeling Atletico will be wasting their time if they do end up coming back in for the exciting young attacker.

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