Klopp: 'Not possible' for Liverpool to re-sign Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho won't be rejoining Liverpool this season.

Less than two years after he moved to Barcelona from the Premier League club for £142 million, the Brazilian playmaker is reportedly atop the list of players that the Catalan side is looking to offload in a bid to balance its books this summer.

However, although Coutinho developed into one of the world's most exciting attacking midfielders with the Reds, gaffer Jurgen Klopp poured cold water on the prospect of the reigning Champions League holders re-signing the diminutive playmaker.

"In general, Phil Coutinho helps each team in the world, still - 100 percent," Klopp told Melissa Reddy of ESPN. "It's not about that. I like Phil, I think he's a fantastic footballer and all that stuff, but it would be a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big-money signing, and it's not our year for that.

"It's just not possible. As I said, having him would make each team better - us included - but I really hope that he finds his luck at Barcelona."

Klopp added: "Or maybe he found it there. We have contact, but not that close contact that I know exactly how he is doing, but the rest is only newspaper talk and stuff like that."

Coutinho, 27, has struggled mightily to adapt to life at the Camp Nou, finding both playing time and consistency difficult to come by in Spain. As such, he's been linked with a host of Europe's top clubs this summer.

The Brazilian scored 54 goals in 201 appearances with Liverpool, becoming a fan favorite with the Merseyside faithful after joining the club from Inter in 2013.

After a promising half-season with the Blaugrana to close out the 2017-18 campaign, Coutinho sputtered last year, finding the net just five times in 34 La Liga appearances. Of his 22 league starts in 2018-19, Coutinho only completed the full 90 minutes on seven occasions.