It may not be until the transfer window closes on August 31, but, at some point, it will dawn on Philippe Coutinho precisely what has slipped through his fingers. A move to Barcelona almost certainly, the affection of those unforgiving sections of the Liverpool crowd who see loyalty as everything even and, if matters continue as they are, his status as talisman.

While Coutinho sits idle, resting his back injury and stewing on Anfield’s intransigence, Sadio Mané continues to shine. It is Mané who is emerging as key to Jürgen Klopp’s approach, the manager’s most potent, and most reliable, weapon and the player most likely to make the difference as he did against Crystal Palace on Saturday. The statistics suggest that Barcelona have been bidding