Philippe Coutinho January transfer bid from Barcelona planned
By Lyall Thomas
Last Updated: 11/10/17 11:25pm
Barcelona are ready to mount a new offensive to sign Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho in the January transfer window.
The Catalan club failed with multiple offers for Coutinho in the summer, but the Brazilian wanted the move and he missed six of the Reds' opening games of the Premier League campaign as speculation intensified throughout August.
Barca were immediately ready to spend their huge £198m windfall from the sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain and the Liga club's chief executive Oscar Grau says nothing has changed ahead of the winter window.
"We are ready to sign Coutinho or any other player the technical staff request in the winter window," he said on Wednesday.
"We want to have the most competitive squad possible. The club will be sustainable, we don't want losses. If that is the case, we will look for means to generate income."
Barcelona are on course to become the world's highest earning sports club, with record revenues of £804m (€897m) forecast for the financial year 2017/18.
Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said in October 2016 the club were targeting €1billion in revenue by 2021.
And Grau said: "We're presenting figures for this season which are the highest of any club in the world. No other teams, even in the NBA and NFL, reach these numbers. The club is on track to hit its target by 2021."
