The summer of 2017 was undoubtedly a stressful time to be a Liverpool fan.

Not only did Liverpool fail to secure the signings they wanted, but they also had to battle to keep Philippe Coutinho from leaving for Barcelona.

The Brazilian maestro has been in electric form for the Reds in the past few years, and Barcelona had made him their key transfer target after letting Neymar go to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Coutinho made it no secret that he wanted to leave for Spain as he submitted a transfer request, but Jurgen Klopp held firm as he rejected three bids for the midfielder; the highest of which totalled well over £100 million.

But with the January transfer window set to open in three weeks, Barcelona are expected to renew their interest in Coutinho.

Klopp has already been forced to answer questions about his future, stating after their 7-0 romp of Spartak Moscow on Tuesday that their stance remains the same: Liverpool have no desire to sell.

"I am completely involved in the situation, nobody who has any influence came to me and said Phil will be away in January," Klopp said earlier this week.

"I'm fine with the situation, I have no desire to have the situation we had in the summer again."

COUTINHO WILL STAY IN JANUARY ON ONE CONDITION

How long Coutinho will stay in Liverpool remains in doubt, but the Mirror have reported both good and bad news about his future.

The Mirror claim that the Brazilian is happy to stay at Liverpool until the rest of the season, as long as he is given assurances that he will be allowed to leave Barcelona next summer.

Coutinho remains desperate for his dream move to the Catalan club, and he does not want to risk Barcelona switching their attention to other transfer targets.

Although this may come as good and bad news to Liverpool, it does at least give them a number of months to seek a replacement.

And having Coutinho at their disposal for the remainder of the season will give Liverpool the best chance to secure a top four finish, allowing them to attract better players to replace him with.

Losing Coutinho would not be ideal, but there is very little they can do if the Brazilian has his heart set on a move away from Anfield.