Coutinho on his way to Barcelona

Liverpool would love to sign Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita in January if they were to sell Philippe Coutinho, according to the Echo. The newspaper claim that it is only a matter of time as to when Coutinho leaves Anfield for Barcelona following a shift in the rhetoric surrounding the transfer in recent days. The Echo report that the reality is that “it’s a question of when not if Coutinho heads to Spain” and that Liverpool will need to have “something special up their sleeve” if he leaves in January. It is said that the Merseysiders would need to sign one or both of Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk and RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita to placate supporters. Liverpool tried to sign Van Dijk last summer and the club “will move swiftly if Southampton soften their stance” as he “remains desperate to play for Klopp”. Keita has already agreed to join Liverpool next summer and there is a possibility of his arrival being brought forward following Leipzig’s exit from the Champions League “but that remains a long shot”. OPINION Coutinho is leaving Liverpool, but the club must keep him until the summer. At all costs. Were they to bow down to Barcelona’s desire to throw huge sums in order to get the playmaker in January, it would send out a wretched message. To fans, to the team, to opponents. Sure, Liverpool have an abundance of brilliant attackers and the hugely successful integration of Mohamed Salah into the side means Coutinho is not as important as he was six months ago. But he remains the outstanding member of the ‘Fab Four’, the one most capable of the piece of magic that slices open the best defences. Van Dijk and Keita would be fantastic signings, bona fide superstars who would immediately improve the team. But neither is likely to arrive until next summer. So, Liverpool must hang fire and stick to their guns.