Barcelona are planning a fresh
assault on Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho in the January transfer window, the
Catalan club's CEO Oscar Grau promised on Wednesday.
Barca were thwarted in their attempt
to prise Coutinho away from Anfield during the summer with Liverpool placing a
reported €200 million asking price on the midfielder.
Despite the player trying to
engineer a move, Liverpool turned down his late transfer request during the
close season window.
But Grau made clear the Spanish
giants had not given up the chase.
"We are ready to sign Coutinho,
or any other player (during the winter transfer window)," he told a press
conference.
"We have the money," Grau
said, confirming the club's announcement in July of record income of €708
million for 2016/2017 with an after-tax profit of €18 million.
Grau added: "The most important
thing is the demands from the management, and we will do everything possible to
meet them. We want to have the most competitive team possible."
Barca experienced a tumultuous time
during the summer transfer market, losing Coutinho's compatriot Neymar to Paris
Saint-Germain for a world record €222 million, and bringing in Ousmane Dembele
from Borussia Dortmund for €105 million.
But Dembele has endured a nightmare
start to life at the Camp Nou. The France international suffered a hamstring
injury on his full La Liga debut ruling him out until January at the earliest.