Barcelona transfer news: 5 players monitored in Tottenham-Liverpool match, Coutinho to finally join and more - 23rd October 2017
FOUR Spurs players monitored along with Coutinho
Tottenham inflicted a major loss on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at the Wembley on Sunday and Barcelona's technical director Robert Fernandez was present at the venue. While monitoring Philippe Coutinho could be expected, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reports that four Tottenham players were monitored as well.
As per the report, Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Davinson Sanchez were the players on Fernandez's scouting list. Now, Kane and Alli are two of the most-sought players across Europe and it is natural Barcelona would like to bolster their attack with them.
However, the club are apparently interested in signing Tottenham's creative force Christian Eriksen and new signing Sanchez. as well. The latter joined from Ajax in the summer and has settled in England within no time. This could be a worrying situation for Mauricio Pochettino as Barcelona look to strengthen in January.
Klopp does not deny Coutinho sale in January
Mundo Deportivo reports that a path is being paved for Coutinho to join the Catalans in January, which received a boost from Jurgen Klopp on Sunday. The Liverpool boss endured a torrid afternoon at the Wembley and later was asked by the media regarding Coutinho's future. The German denied any agreement between the clubs by saying:
"I have no idea. We will see. We do not talk about things like this. Can you imagine what it would be like to say "yes, we have an agreement"? Right now, the truth is that nobody thinks about this. We do not talk about that, why should we?"
However, he indicated a possible softening of stance by refusing to deny any sale.
"In general, as a club, we have to create a situation in which players want to be part of everything they have. At this point, we have this. Nobody thinks about January, nobody thinks about June or July. Everyone wants to be part of this, but there will be transfer windows and we will see what happens."
There is a good possibility that the saga could end in January.
Balotelli hopes of playing for Spain's top two
The Italian striker is slowly finding his form back, away from the spotlight in the Ligue 1 at OGC Nice. The 27-year old has scored seven goals in all competitions this season and harbours a dream of playing in Spain. As per Marca, he joked:
"I like Real Madrid, but if Barcelona called me I wouldn't cry."
While a deal for Balotelli to Barcelona is highly unlikely, the player was once rated high enough to play for the best clubs across Europe.