Jurgen Klopp reiterates Liverpool stance on Philippe Coutinho sale as Barcelona links persist

Jurgen Klopp has reiterated that Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho is unequivocally not for sale as rumours persist regarding a lucrative transfer to Barcelona.

Long-running speculation concerning a switch to Catalonia has gathered fresh momentum over recent weeks as Barcelona seek to secure a long-term replacement for Andres Iniesta and plan for life without Paris Saint-Germain-bound Neymar.

An opening bid for Coutinho worth £72m ($94.8m) was rebuffed by Liverpool, who are under no pressure to sell after the player penned a new five-year contract believed to be worth £8m-a-year during the January window.

However, reports from Spain claim that the 25-year-old has already agreed personal terms with Barcelona and is desperate to move to the Nou Camp, where he would reunite with former teammate Luis Suarez.

Klopp has remained adamant that Coutinho will not be leaving Anfield anytime soon and previously maintained that Liverpool were not a selling club. Indeed he described the fact that the Reds had not and would not wave goodbye to any players that they wanted to retain as perhaps the best news of the summer.

Quizzed again about the Coutinho saga while appearing alongside Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti, Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and Napoli's Maurizio Sarri at a pre-Audi Cup press conference held on Monday (31 July), the German insisted that such a hardline stance has not been altered.

"If you say he is not available to be sold, where is the interpretation?" he asked. "The word 'not' means there is no interpretation. There is nothing new."

Klopp denied reports that Liverpool were in the running to sign Marwin Hitz following the retirement of the Swiss custodian's former Augsburg teammate Alex Manninger, claiming that Liverpool "have enough good goalies" in the likes of Simon Mignolet, Loris Karius and Danny Ward.

Gomez injury update

Liverpool had already confirmed that injury-plagued defender Joe Gomez would not be risked at the Audi Cup due to a knee problem and Klopp was eager to stress that the issue was minor and not something that would keep him sidelined for long.

Striker Divock Origi will also miss the two matches at Allianz Arena due to a "very slight" muscle complaint, while James Milner and Nathaniel Clyne remain sidelined. Karius, Ward and Ben Woodburn have also dealt with injuries of late.

"It's not a big injury [for Joe Gomez], he just sprained it a little bit," Klopp said. "Not everyone has had their [full] preparations yet so we still have a few problems there, but so far everything is looking good.

"It's quite a challenge to see what we can do with these players, it's a little bit of a puzzle, but we will do our best. We're going to train at 5pm today again and then, after that, I will know who's available."