Barcelona must pay £130million for Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho - Stuart Pearce

Coutinho is heavily linked with a mega-money move to Spanish giants Barcelona but Liverpool remain adamant he is not for sale.

The Brazilian is reportedly open to leaving Anfield if the transfer is done amicably and there are claims personal terms have been agreed between Barca and the 25-year-old.

Former England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce says Liverpool must refuse any offer for Coutinho if they want their first title in 28 years.

"It's absolutely vital (to keep him)," Pearce said on Sky Sports News this morning.

"If they want to stage a challenge to attempt to win a title, it's been a long long time, he is absolutely vital. 

"It's the message it sends out in the dressing room, when your key man walks out of the door, it deflates the rest. 

"They need to hang onto him but there is a lot of money around in Spain at the moment as we know and they've got the financial clout to go and get whoever they want."

The financial clout Pearce mentioned is the nigh-on £200million Barca received for Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain last week.

Pearce believes that world record transfer means Coutinho is now worth a lot more than he was, as much as £130million.

"As a player, yes he's an outstanding player, so he's up towards £50-80million in my world anyway looking at him," he added.

"If Barcelona pick the phone up to ring you on Merseyside, all of a sudden you start at £130million and you work from there.

"Barcelona need to make a statement to their fans and I think they probably will. 

"Whoever it is I don't know but the asking price will go up."

Coutinho joined Liverpool from Inter Milan in 2013.