Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho is targeted by Barcelona

The Reds remain confident that Coutinho will stay put despite Barcelona facing up to losing Neymar to Paris St-Germain in a world record £195m deal.

But Jurgen Klopp has now given up hope of tempting RB Leipzig to part company with midfielder Naby Keita this summer.

Liverpool were prepared to almost double their transfer record by offering a deal that could have been worth up to £66m.

The German club have held firm and the Reds will now review the situation in 12 months when Keita can trigger a clause in his contract.

It means keeping hold of Coutinho is now even more important.

Liverpool turned down a £72m offer from Barca for Coutinho last week and are increasingly confident of keeping the Brazilian playmaker.

That stems from the fact that he signed a five-year contract in January worth £150,000 a week, which has no release clause.

The South American also held talks with Klopp last week during their pre-season trip to Hong Kong and told his manager he is still happy at Anfield.

Barca are still willing to test Liverpool’s resolve though because of Neymar’s likely exit.

He has shown clear signs that he is unhappy at Barca after storming out of a training session in Miami after a fight with new signing Nelson Semedo.

Neymar reacted angrily after a challenge by Semedo, and had to be restrained by team-mate Sergio Busquets before tearing off his training top and leaving the pitch as boss Ernesto Valverde watched on.

By contrast, Coutinho has been training happily with Liverpool this week in Germany, where they are preparing to face Hertha Berlin today and Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

His attitude has been in total contrast to that shown by Luis Suarez as he tried to engineer a move away from Merseyside.

Liverpool lost Suarez to Barcelona for £75m three years ago – just months after he too had signed a long-term contract – but the Reds officials are confident of avoiding a repeat with Coutinho.

Suarez went public with his discontent after being denied a move to Arsenal 12 months before he finally quit Liverpool.

The Reds have had no such problems with Coutinho, and Klopp is satisfied that the player remains totally committed to the club.