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Luis Suarez has told Barcelona that signing Philippe Coutinho is “not the solution” to their current on-field plight.

But it is not the former Liverpool striker who has taken that stance - instead it is the Barca legend, who won the Balon d'Or in the 1960s, who has nixed the idea of the La Liga side bringing in Coutinho.

The Catalan club have endured a difficult summer, selling Neymar to Paris St-Germain for a world record fee and struggling to reinvest the £198million in improving the squad.

Their pursuit of Coutinho has proven fruitless so far despite the Brazilian's transfer request last week, with Liverpool releasing a statement reiterating their playmaker is not for sale.

Barca, who lost both legs of the Spanish Super Cup to Real Madrid to begin the campaign, have found similar resilience in Borussia Dortmund over French winger Ousmane Dembele.

Speaking to Carrusel Deportivo, Suarez said: "These two parties had little history and signings such as Dembele and Coutinho are not the solution.

"Barca have to know that (they are) united and together (and) they have to fight to get out of this, whether or not there are new players.”

The 82-year-old is now a scout for Inter Milan, and won two league titles in Spain with Barcelona during a six-year career.