Liverpool news LIVE updates: Coutinho bid readied, Van Dijk saga, Klopp blame

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Thursday October 12

Fresh Philippe Coutinho bid

05:15: Barcelona have warned Liverpool they are coming with a fresh bid to grab Philippe Coutinho in January.

The Catalan giants saw three attempts to sign the playmaker rebuffed in the summer, including a final bid of £117million, the Reds holding firm despite the 25-year-old submitting a transfer request.

But their resolve is to be tested once more with an increased bid in January after Barca chief executive Oscar Grau indicated they are preparing an offer Liverpool cannot refuse with cash from the sale of Neymar.

Express Sport understands Liverpool angered by Barcelona’s latest attempt to unsettle their player and could do without the distraction in the week they lost Sadio Mane for six weeks to a hamstring injury on international duty.

Barcelona may have to get closer to Liverpool’s £183m valuation for a player Liverpool re-signed on a five-year deal in January 2017.

Virgil van Dijk saga

04:45: Liverpool fans are probably starting to question Jurgen Klopp more now, because they failed to sign Virgil van Dijk in the summer, according to Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith.

Southampton defender Van Dijk was heavily linked with a move to Anfield during the last window and he was Klopp’s top target.

The Reds were forced to apologise to the south Coast outfit after they were accused of allegedly ‘tapping up’ the Dutchman.

And Smith thinks the Van Dijk saga has caused fans to vent their fury towards Klopp.

“One or two Liverpool fans for the first time are asking questions about Klopp,” Smith told Sky Sports’ The Debate Show.

“I think it is because of the whole Van Dijk saga. 

“We know how it finished. They are thinking ‘why can’t we get sign another defender if we can’t get him?’.

Jurgen Klopp blame

04:15: Craig Bellamy think it is difficult to pin all the blame on Jurgen Klopp for Liverpool’s defensive woes this season.

Klopp has had to bear much of the brunt, with the Merseyside outfit’s mistakes seeing them seven points adrift of frontrunners Manchester City and Manchester United.

It is the first time in his two years in charge of the club that serious questions have been asked of the German tactician.

While accepting Liverpool have been poor at the back, Bellamy doesn’t think Klopp should take all the flak.

“I find it difficult to put all the blame on Klopp,” Bellamy told Sky Sports’ The Debate Show.

“Defensively, because they press high up, it’s been individual mistakes and the same players who are committing them.”