Liverpool have rejected a third bid from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho worth just short of £120milion.

Barca have made Coutinho and Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele their primary targets following the loss of Neymar to Paris Saint Germain.

They are bidding for both but have not agreed terms for either, and now their latest bid for Coutinho has been immediately shunned.

Barca’s belief that they can land Coutinho remains, added to the fact the player wants to make the move and has seen a transfer request rejected.

But Barca will now have to go over £120million to land him – which before Neymar would have smashed the world transfer record and would make Coutinho the second most expensive player of all time.

Bookmakers are still finding it hard to separate Liverpool and Barcelona in the market for who Coutinho will be playing for next season, but the Spaniards are favourite.

We spoke to Unibet about how they see the market.

“Liverpool are showing plenty of resolve in this transfer tug-of-war with want away Coutinho, and the market is starting to pay attention,” Unibet’s Alistair Gill told TheGamblingTimes.com.

“With Liverpool rejecting a £113m offer, the odds on Coutinho staying at Liverpool are shortening, in from 11/10 to 11/12, with the odds on the player making his way to Barcelona going the other way, drifting from 1/2 to 3/4.

“It is worth noting, however, that Barcelona are still favourites to get the players signature before 1^st September and this one is unlikely to be done with just yet”

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