Albert Soler: 'Liverpool demanded £185m from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho'

Albert Soler - the director of professional sports at Barcelona - has claimed that Liverpool demanded £185m for midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

Throughout the closing weeks of the transfer window, Barcelona were heavily linked with Coutinho, who was allegedly keen on making the switch to Camp Nou.

A move never materialised, despite a number of offers being made by the Catalan giants, and Soler has suggested that the Premier League side had asked for a fee of €200m.

Soler told reporters: "Liverpool wanted €200m for Coutinho. The club decided not to continue with the operation. We will not put Barça at risk."

Barcelona received close to £200m from Paris Saint-Germain for Neymar, with £96.8m of that figure being spent on signing Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund.

Earlier this year, Coutinho signed a new five-year contract at Anfield.