Barcelona's pursuit of Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho is back underway following the opening of the January transfer window.The Catalan giants submitted numerous bids over the summer but Jurgen Klopp refused to sell the highly rated Brazilian playmaker.Desperate to complete a dream move to Barcelona, Coutinho handed in a transfer request at Anfield but his wishes were ignored.Despite running away with La Liga, Barcelona are still looking to strengthen their squad following the shock departure of Neymar to PSG.The Brazilian superstar accepted the offer from Paris after they triggered his €222m release clause at the Camp Nou.Coutinho has been left out of Klopp's last two matchday squads and, according to reports in Spain, the 25-year-old will refuse to play for Liverpool in a bid to force the club to sell.With his heart in Barcelona, the former Inter Milan starlet didn't feature for Liverpool until the transfer window closed in September.Coutinho has been in excellent form since returning to the first team - bagging four goals and four assists in December.

Gary Lineker tweets about Coutinho

Everyone has been talking about Coutinho's future over the last couple of days and the Match of the Day host weighed in with his opinion.

Replying to a tweet which claimed the player signed a deal at Liverpool with no release clause, Lineker joked that his contract must have a clause which forbids him from playing during transfer windows.

Lineker does make an excellent point. It does seem very unprofessional for a contracted employee to refuse to do his job.

Klopp claimed Coutinho didn't travel to the 2-1 New Year's Day win at Burnley due to injury - but that's what he said in August and few believed him.

"Phil and Mo are not available, both are injured," the German coach explained.

"That's why they are not in the XI. It's not ideal, but it is what it is."

Liverpool just splashed out £75m on Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk but could be in for a major windfall if they choose to accept Barcelona's offer.