That’s the claim of ESPN’s Barca correspondent Sam Marsden.
The Reds begrudgingly sold Coutinho to the Catalan giants a little over a year ago in a £142million deal that smashed the British transfer record.
But after a strong first six months at the Nou Camp, Coutinho’s first full season with Barca has been less successful and he has been heavily linked with an early move away from the club.
The Brazilian play-maker has been linked to Manchester United in particular, while the success Coutinho had at Anfield – returning 54 goals and 45 assists in 201 games across five years – has seen suggestions Liverpool should look to bring him back.
But Marsden does not think that Barca would allow Coutinho to return to Merseyside purely because of how it would make them look.
Speaking of the player’s struggles on the Liverpool Echo’s Blood Red podcast, Marsden explained: “The longer this goes on the more feasible that Barca would accept an offer.
“The problem is they paid so much for him, and have invested so much into him, that they don’t want to take a big hit.
“At the moment the official line is he’s not for sale.
“But unofficially there are whispers that if Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich or whoever it may be, came in during the summer and tested Barcelona with a bid, maybe of around £100m, then maybe the club would think now is the right time to cut their losses.
“As for Liverpool, I don’t have any insight from their point of view, but if they did come in with a bid it would almost be like Barca would be put off by selling him back to the club where they bought him from.
“Even if Liverpool were to match the same price that another club was prepared to pay, it almost feels like Barcelona would have been had off.”
Much has been made of the impact Coutinho’s sale has had on Liverpool, given it allowed them to fund huge deals for the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.
The pair have been crucial performers for Jurgen Klopp’s side this season with the Reds in the hunt for the Premier League title and also favourites to beat Porto and reach the Champions League semi finals for a second straight season.
But there have been suggestions Liverpool still lack an out-and-out No 10, with a deal for attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir having fell through in the summer.
Yet when asked about the potential of a deal to bring Coutinho back to Liverpool in January, Klopp said: “I would not say it is a potential transfer or a likely one.
“Nothing to say. Whatever I say would open more stories and there is no story. Phil is at Barcelona and as I know he fits really well and everything is fine.”