Saints steal a march on Liverpool after £10.2m Coutinho bid is accepted by Inter

Wanted man: Both Southampton and Liverpool have bid for Coutinho

Southampton have leapfrogged Liverpool in the race to sign Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan after having a £10.2million bid accepted for the midfielder.



The rival offer comes as Barcelona express an interest in signing Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, 30, but in the summer window as a replacement for the departing Victor Valdes.



Liverpool will step up interest in goalkeeping targets as they prepare for his departure but more pressing is the negotiations with Inter for Coutinho.



They had a £6.3m offer rejected for the Brazilian last Friday and have improved that bid to £8m.



They will now have to match Southampton's package to stand a chance of luring Coutinho to Merseyside. Southampton manager Maurico Pochettino had the 20-year-old on loan at Espanyol last season.

