fought "until the last second" to convince Philippe Coutinho to stayو at Anfie, but ultimately had no other option than sell him to Barcelona, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday, Reuters reported. After months of speculation, the 25-year-old Brazilian joined the Spanish club for 140 million pounds ($190 million) in what he described as his "dream move". The sale surprised many on Merseyside, particularly after Liverpool fought so hard to keep Coutinho in August when the owners made clear that the Reds should no longer be seen as "a selling club". Yet that strident tone changed ahead of the latest transfer window and, in his first public comment since Coutinho's sale, Klopp made clear that Liverpool felt they had no choice but to negotiate the move. Klopp stressed that he has lost big-game players previously as a manager and called on everyone to move on from Coutinho's departure. "We lost plenty of players, at Dortmund. You always have to react. It's about the atmosphere in the club. If we get a free kick on Sunday and anyone is thinking 'Phil!' that wouldn't be too cool," he said Although Liverpool have been linked with several high-profile replacements for Coutinho, Klopp gave little away and straight-batted suggestions they are negotiating to bring in Naby Keita from RB Leipzig ahead of his scheduled arrival in the close season. Klopp stressed that if the club do any business "we want right before expensive". "First of all we have to replace (Coutinho) internally. We have our eyes open in this window but we won't do crazy things," he said. "We don't need to replace him, we need to step up. We have played fantastic football without Phil. We only have to carry on."
