After Neymar completed his sensational £197m switch to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona, one other Brazilian star has dominated much of the transfer narrative.

Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho has been all over the back pages the last few weeks, with the mercurial midfielder desperate to seal a mega-money move to the Blaugrana.

Ernesto Valverde's side have seen three bids rejected so far for the 25-year-old, with the last reportedly worth around £114m.

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Coutinho has handed in a formal transfer request and has told manager Jurgen Klopp that he does not wish to play for the Merseyside club anymore.

But, Liverpool's owners FSG appear adamant that they will not offload their prized asset at any price, regardless of whether he will actually put the shirt on again.

Many have questioned the club's desperation to keep the player, saying that it is likely to be detrimental to their progress as a unit.

But, most have conducted themselves in a dignified manner when discussing the saga, unlike often controversial pundit, Joey Barton.

The former Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder discussed Coutinho on talkSPORT and along the way, he aimed a very sly dig at the club.

“He [Coutinho] wants out, and if you’re getting up to what are they now, almost £120m, it just looks like how much rather than if or when," Barton said, per Mirror.

“He’s not a Scouser, he’s a Brazilian. He’s already living a fair distance away from home and he’s probably grown up wanting to play for Barcelona.

"No disrespect to Liverpool, but that’s the club Brazilian youngsters grow up wanting to play for nowadays.

"It’s not the Liverpool of the 80s, it’s Liverpool who haven’t won a title for over 20 years, so you can’t blame the boy.

"They should have known a big club was going to come sniffing for him and, although he’s difficult to replace, they should have had replacements lined up for him.”

Clearly, Barton does not think Liverpool are worthy of keeping the player, citing their lack of trophies in recent years as a primary reason.

The Reds may have managed to qualify for the Champions League last season but a player of Coutinho's calibre is surely desperate for accolades.

Sadly, the Liverpool of now look unlikely to deliver his desires and their declining status in the modern game is why they have had to offload their finest players.

Coutinho clearly wants to follow in the path of Luis Suarez and to be fair, who could blame him?

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