The Brazil international is keen on
completing a switch to Camp Nou after he was forced to continue at Anfield despite the midfielder handing in a transfer request in the summer. The Catalan club
are believed to be preparing an offer of around £140m \(\9.9m) in bringing the former Inter Milan man to Barcelona.
According to the Independent, Liverpool are keen on retaining Coutinho beyond the ongoing window. However, the 25-year-
old is likely to complete his move to Spain as early as next week, and this has pushed the Merseyside club to consider other
options to strengthen the squad.
Lemar has been identified as a potential replacement for Coutinho, with manager Jurgen Klopp open to the idea as well.
However, Liverpool are aware it is difficult to negotiate with Monaco in convincing them to allow the French international to leave the Ligue 1 winners in January.
Liverpool's league rivals Arsenal are also believed to be interested in signing the Monaco forward. Despite all the speculation, the French club's manager Leonardo Jardim has ruled out Lemar's exit
in the mid-season transfer window.
This could convince the Reds to turn their attention towards Mahrez, with the Algerian international identified as an
alternative target to Lemar.
Mahrez was keen on making a move away
from the King Power Stadium in the
summer, and AS Roma came close to
securing his services after making multiple
bids to secure his services. However, the
Serie A club's final bid did not match the
Foxes valuation of the player.
Leicester manager Claude Puel, though, has
insisted Mahrez is happy to continue with
his current employers.
"I want to keep all my best players and
Riyad is an important player in the team
for us. When I discussed things with him,
he had a good attitude and is enjoying his
football," Puel explained.
"He is a happy player and likes to play with
his teammates. His statistics have
improved, with assists and scoring. Of
course, I want him to continue all this
good work.
"He is happy with the squad, it is
speculation, but for me it is no problem. He
is happy to play with this team, he enjoys
his football and this is the most important
thing."
In addition to moves for Lemar and
Mahrez, Klopp is also looking to bring in a
new goalkeeper in January.
The Reds are interested in signing Atletico
Madrid's Jan Oblak, but the Slovenian
international has a £100m release clause
and is wanted by other European clubs as
well. They have also monitored AS Roma's
Allison and Stoke City's Jack Butland as
targets for the position.
The German manager currently has the
services of his compatriot Lloris Karius and
Belgium international Simon Mignolet as
his two first-choice keepers.
While defender Virgil van Dijk became
Liverpool's first signing of the winter
transfer market, the Anfield club remain
hopeful about signing an attacker and a
stopper to strengthen the squad.