Jurgen Klopp: 'Philippe Coutinho stay is exactly what Liverpool wanted'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 03 September 2017

Jurgen Klopp admits that Liverpool got 'exactly the situation they wanted' after Philippe Coutinho stayed with the club despite interest from Barcelona.

Jurgen Klopp has claimed that Liverpool got 'exactly the situation they wanted' after Philippe Coutinho stayed with the club.

The 25-year-old midfielder had handed in a transfer request at Anfield in an attempt to push through a move to Barcelona this summer.

However, the transfer window shut with Coutinho still on Liverpool's books, the Reds having reportedly asked Barca to part with £183m for the Brazil international.

The Blaugrana did spend £97m to bring in Ousmane Dembele from Klopp's former club Borussia Dortmund after the forward outlined his intention to move to Camp Nou, but the Liverpool boss insists that Coutinho will be welcomed back into his Anfield squad.

"We have our situation and Dortmund has another," Klopp told German media outlet SPORT1, when asked about Barcelona's failed pursuit of Coutinho.

"Don't believe everything in the press or that there are offers here and there and that the minute after the offer has been entered, it should already be over.

"We are not like George Orwell where everybody knows everything immediately. We have exactly the situation we wanted and no other.

"Dortmund decided the player (Dembele) would leave them, so I cannot compare the two situations. We still have a really good player in the squad who can play."

Coutinho, who has yet to play for Liverpool this season due to a 'stress-related injury', is said to have been spotted crying while on international duty when informed of the failed move.