Barcelona director admits a deal for Coutinho will be 'difficult' to complete

Amidst the strong rumours linking Coutinho with a transfer to Camp Nou, Barcelona's director Robert Fernandez has come on record and admitted that a deal for the Brazilian midfielder will be extremely tough to complete.

Coutinho has been linked to Barcelona for the entirety of the transfer window this summer but the Catalan giants have stepped up their interest after the departure of Neymar, who left for PSG in a sensational £198 million deal.

Recent reports suggested that a deal with the two clubs have been reached for £90 million. Barcelona's general manager Pep Segura even said after Barcelona's loss to Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup that a deal was "close" to completion despite Liverpool standing strong on their decision to not sell the 25-year-old.  

However, Barcelona's director Robert Fernandez has thrown the move further into doubt after claiming that it would be extremely tough to complete the move this late in the transfer window.  

Fernandez was asked about the matter during Paulinho's unveiling by reporters and was quoted by Marca as saying: "Not just Barca but any team looking for top quality players are getting involved in a very difficult situation in this market." 

"Why? Because the market is where clubs like us want to sign top quality players. There are no buyout clauses, so that makes things trickier. Yes, we are negotiating with clubs to make several signings, but in all awareness of the difficulty." 

In addition to Coutinho, Fernandez was also speaking about Borussia Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele, who has also been strongly linked with a move to the Camp Nou.