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Jurgen Klopp says it’s impossible to put a price on Philippe Coutinho because it’s too late in the window to try to replace him.

The Brazil international submitted a transfer request on Friday in a bid to force through a move to Barcelona but it was instantly rejected,

Liverpool turned down a second bid of £90million from the La Liga outfit earlier this week and owners Fenway Sports Group remain adamant that Coutinho will be staying put.

Klopp lost a number of key players to rival clubs during his reign at Borussia Dortmund but he says that sanctioning deals like that for wantaway stars is all about timing.

“I had to sell a lot of players in my managerial career,” Klopp said.

“Some had clauses, some had no clauses. We had the (Robert) Lewandowski thing and that was difficult when he went to Bayern on a free transfer. A lot of different things.

“The only thing I can say about this is that in life everything is about timing – whichever club asks early enough.

“It’s like how we try to do it. If we ask early enough, we try to do it. If you ask early enough, you can either switch the plan of whatever. But you cannot come up, close to the start of the season and things like this.

(Image: Photo credit should read CHRIS YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images)

“It’s like I said: the club is bigger than anybody. That is the most important thing. It’s about doing it in the right moment. It’s how we do it when we want to bring players in.

“Most of the other clubs won’t come to us and say ‘by the way, we have a good player, do you want to buy him?’

“It is about timing. That is how I understand it. And that is all I have to say. Maybe everybody has a price – in the right moment. In the wrong moment? No price.”

The owners issued a statement on Friday morning insisting that “no offers for Philippe will be considered and he will remain a member of Liverpool Football Club when the summer window closes”.

Their position is unchanged in the wake of the transfer request which was sent by Coutinho via email to sporting director Michael Edwards.

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Coutinho and his agent Kia Joorabchian have been made aware of the owners’ resolve to retain his services throughout the summer. Liverpool are disappointed that Coutinho is agitating for a move despite the player having been told face to face by the owners that any such request wouldn’t be entertained.

The club’s expectation is that Coutinho will act professionally and won’t let either his team-mates or the supporters down.

Coutinho reported to Melwood as usual on Friday morning but didn’t travel with the squad to Watford ahead of Saturday’s game at Vicarage Road due to a back problem.

Speaking before the transfer request went in, Klopp had played down the prospect of Coutinho really pushing for a move.

“I have known him for 20 months and that’s the only thing I can say about this,” he said.

“If he would be fit and not in the squad, then maybe we could talk about it. But he is not fit.

“Everything is not like it should be but it is a normal situation apart from a few things flying around.

“The player is not in team training. I don’t go to the medical department every day and ask things like that.

“Nobody comes to me every day and says ‘Oh my God! Phil!’ We speak about the injury. That is all.”