Barcelona are reportedly eager to offload Philippe Coutinho as the enchanting playmaker edges towards triggering an intriguing clause in the deal that saw him swap Liverpool for Catalonia back in January 2018.

Liverpool's decision to offload Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona has been firmly vindicated in recent years from both a financial and footballing perspective. 

The Brazilian's career has somewhat stagnated while the Reds have climbed to new heights without their former talisman. 

Despite Coutinho's potential to become a world-class player, he's struggled to rise to the enormous expectation though his return of 24 goals and 14 assists in 90 games for the club is certainly not to be sniffed at. 

Pressure from supporters is huge at the best of times at Barcelona, but the enormity of Coutinho's transfer fee has placed an acute focus on his form. 

As reported by the BBC when the transfer was completed, the Blaugrana paid an initial £105m for his services with a potential to rise to £142m.

And it now appears that Liverpool could be in line to receive an extra £18m in the imminent future, a payment that Barcelona will attempt to circumvent by offloading him. 

According to Spanish media outlet Sport, the 28-year-old will trigger a clause that forces the La Liga giants to pay Liverpool £18m in the event that he makes 100 appearances for the club. 

The Sun's translation of the same source, meanwhile, claims that the Catalonian outfit are "desperate to sell Coutinho for just £45m" with the clause in mind.

The 28-year-old is just ten games shy of reaching that landmark, and Barcelona are eager to cash in now before they are forced to shell out a significant sum during a financially crippling year. 

Given how costly Coutinho has proven to be for Barcelona, it's easy to see why they're eager to cut their losses. 

Whether they'll be able to attract a buyer in January, though, remains to be seen.

Either way there's no doubt Michael Edwards will be keeping a keen eye on developments ahead of a potential windfall for the Premier League champions.