Liverpool face three weeks of turmoil in their efforts to retain Philippe Coutinho after the winger handed in a transfer request and the battle for his services turned ugly.

With Barcelona preparing a third bid for the Brazilian, Coutinho made a formal appeal to be sold, which was promptly rejected by the Anfield hierarchy.

Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, had earlier issued a statement reiterating that Coutinho would not leave in this transfer window, a sentiment underlined after the 25-year-old emailed the club’s director of football, Michael Edwards, informing him he wished to leave.

Edwards had already told Coutinho in Munich last week there was no possibility he would leave this summer. Coincidentally, Coutinho has not played since Liverpool returned from the pre-season tour of Germany and misses today’s trip to Watford with a sore back. He is also unlikely to face Hoffenheim in the Champions League qualifier on Tuesday.

It was an extraordinary three hours at Anfield yesterday, the FSG statement timed to precede Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match briefing ahead of the Premier League opener.

No sooner had manager Klopp suggested that Coutinho was not the type of character to agitate for a move, than reports emerged on television that a transfer request had been submitted.