BREAKING: Liverpool Agree £142m Deal With Barcelona For Philippe Coutinho

Liverpool have agreed a £142m deal with Barcelona for Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho in what will be the second most expensive transfer of all time.

The fee will only be eclipsed by the £200m Paris St-Germain paid Barcelona for Neymar last summer.

Coutinho, 25, joined Liverpool from Inter Milan for £8.5m in January 2013.

The Reds are expected to receive £105m up front from Barcelona and the rest in realistic add-ons.

Coutinho stayed behind on Merseyside while final negotiations were concluded as his Liverpool team-mates flew to Dubai for a mid-season break.

The formalities of the deal are now expected to be concluded in Spain within the next 24 hours as Coutinho finally secures the switch he has craved since the Spanish giants made their first move for him in the summer.

BBC