Philippe Coutinho still believes he will leave Liverpool as Barcelona prepare improved offer

Despite Liverpool turning down a third Barcelona bid on Friday, Philippe Coutinho and his agent are keeping their cool as they still believe the move will happen in the next few days.

Barcelona saw a third bid of £119 million turned down by Liverpool as the club reiterated their stance that Coutinho will not be sold this summer. The Brazilian has yet to appear for Liverpool this season due to injury but he is believed to be desperate for a move. He has already handed in a transfer request to the club.

According to Spanish newspaper Sport, Coutinho, his agent, and Barcelona are keeping their cool as they continue negotiations with Liverpool. They are still very confident that a deal will go through soon. The Brazilian sees this move as an opportunity of his lifetime and hopes to complete the move next week.

The Express reported that Barcelona, on their side, are already preparing an improved offer of around £130 million, although Liverpool value Coutinho at £140 million. Liverpool know that the Catalan side have the £198 million from the Neymar sale to spend and want to hold out for a higher transfer fee for Coutinho.

However, with Chelsea now joining the race for Dirk Van Dijk, Liverpool might accept the £130 million bid to fund a big money offer to Southampton for the Dutch defender.