Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool’s not prepared to sell off its greatest assets, and therefore spurned a reported approach from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho.

The Catalonian giant’s impending bid for Coutinho was one of football’s worst-kept secrets over the previous 24 hours, and the Reds were apparently unmoved when it arrived, although the Guardian’s Andy Hunter reports the offer was worth €80 million (£72 million).

“Yes, that’s what we can say,” Klopp replied Friday when asked if Coutinho wasn’t for sale. “But that’s not since this morning or yesterday, I’m not sure if it was different at any time. So, yes.

“I’m not surprised that any club is interested in players, if it is like this. A few people obviously see that Liverpool has a few good players. That’s how it is.

“But a very important message, maybe – we are not a selling club.”

Coutinho, 25, features highly on a list of players to potentially succeed 33-year-old midfield wizard Andres Iniesta at Barcelona. The Brazilian’s adeptness at slotting into a deeper position in the lineup was evident in one of his standout performances of last term: May’s 4-0 win at West Ham United.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Some personalities behind the scenes at the Camp Nou could be egging on the club brass to table lucrative offers for Coutinho. The Rio de Janeiro native regularly partners friend Neymar in Brazil’s attack, and also counts Luis Suarez – with whom he played with at Liverpool for two seasons before the Uruguayan moved to the Mediterranean coast – as a close ally.

But Klopp isn’t keen on having one of his standout ranks pilfered before Liverpool ends a two-year exile from Champions League football, and tries to establish itself as a force in the domestic title race.

“We believe in working together, we believe in development together,” the German manager continued. “We believe in using the basis. We want to work together, we want to make the next step together and for this we need to stay together. That’s how it is.”

Referring to the 10 matches Coutinho missed last season due to injury, Klopp added: “Phil is a very, very important player but we need to react better when he’s not on the pitch, that’s how it is.”

The former Borussia Dortmund boss was addressing the media in Hong Kong before taking on Leicester City on Saturday. Liverpool won the first match of its East Asian programme 2-0 against Crystal Palace, with goals coming from new boy Dominic Solanke and Divock Origi.

LOVELOCK, Nev. — Former football star and convicted felon O.J. Simpson is appearing before a parole board Thursday, pleading for his freedom on live TV.

Simpson was convicted in 2008 of an armed robbery involving two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room. The 70-year-old is asking the parole board to release him in October after serving the minimum nine years of a 33-year sentence.

He is seated at a plain wooden table and is appearing before the parole board from Lovelock Correctional Center via closed-circuit video. Appearing as inmate No. 1027820, Simpson is being accompanied by lawyer Malcolm LaVergne, prison caseworker Marc La Fleur, close friend Tom Scotto, sister Shirley Baker and daughter Arnelle Simpson.

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  Follow along as O.J. Simpson, who has spent the last eight years in a Nevada prison, hears whether he will be granted parole.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu attempted to swat away rumours that Neymar will leave to become top dog at Paris Saint-Germain, allegedly telling BBC Sport that he’s going nowhere.

Bartomeu’s insistence followed reports that PSG had met the Brazilian’s €222-million release clause at the Camp Nou, which could incredibly be a cut-price fee. The amount that clubs will have to stump up to pry Neymar from Barca is set to rise with each of year of his contract that expires in 2021.

Bartomeu’s warning to PSG backed the words of his colleague at Barcelona, vice-president Jordi Mestre, who insisted Neymar is “200 percent” staying with the Blaugrana on Tuesday.

Although a transfer for such an exorbitant amount – comfortably over double the cost of the world’s most expensive player, Manchester United’s Paul Pogba – would seem unlikely to materialise, there are several aspects that make it feasible.

PSG is desperate to re-establish itself as France’s great force after Monaco took its Ligue 1 crown and reached the semi-final of the Champions League last campaign. Backed by Qatari owners, no player is beyond Les Parisiens’ financial means, as evidenced by the acquisitions of Javier Pastore, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, David Luiz, Angel Di Maria, and Julian Draxler in each of the past six seasons. This term has yet to see its expensive marquee purchase.

Then there’s Neymar’s status in Catalonia. He could’ve been unsettled by the Spanish investigation related to financial irregularities surrounding his 2013 transfer from Santos, but there are also on-field matters. He’s blessed to be part of one of the most frightening attacking triumvirates in club history – the 25-year-old regularly partners Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez – but it’s perhaps Barca’s embarrassment of riches up top that prevents him from winning the greatest individual prizes.

“You can’t be FIFA World Player of the Year if you’re not even the outstanding player in your own team,” South American football expert Tim Vickery told BBC Sport.

“I think it’s absolutely no coincidence that this speculation has emerged shortly after the news that Messi has signed a new contract with Barcelona.”

Neymar himself was quoted Tuesday declaring he’s content at Barca and claiming that last season – when he scored his lowest amount of league goals (13) since the 2013-14 term – was his most fruitful.

“The last one was my best season in Barcelona. I am very adapted to the city, the club and I am happy here. That is reflected on the performance of an athlete,” Neymar told Goal in response to a question initially sent to him the previous week.

“It was the season where I felt more comfortable, even though we did not win the titles we would have wanted. We played great games and lived incredible moments. Now, we need to work for the 2017-18 season so it will be even more positive individually and as a group.”

In a transfer window that’s closely followed the futures of Antoine Griezmann, Alexis Sanchez, and many other huge names, it’s the potential next step of Neymar’s career that appears likely to dominate the back pages for some time yet.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

The Kirk Cousins saga was briefly interrupted Monday when he and the Washington Redskins failed to strike a long-term deal. Barring the unlikely scenario of an in-season trade, the dance will resume in the offseason, with Cousins hitting free agency a strong possibility. Unless, of course, there’s another tag placed on him.

The lesson Washington must learn: If you truly want a player to re-sign, don’t wait until late in the game to make what would have been a strong offer a few months earlier. Cousins did debate countering but in the end he said he wanted to see how this season goes because of numerous changes to the organization.

Here are the four options in 2018 and, based on talking to numerous people, why they do or don’t make sense:

A third franchise tag: This would cost $34.5 million, which likely makes this an unrealistic scenario. The benefit, though, is that the Redskins would control his rights. If the Redskins feel there’s any shot at retaining him, they could tag him and negotiate without any future tag numbers impacting their talks, as has been the case. But if they don’t strike a deal, it’ll be a costly maneuver.

Or, they could tag and trade him. Cousins would have to work out a long-term contract with another team. But if there’s no trade — and no long-term deal — the Redskins would be stuck with a hefty bill that, if the salary cap rises by $10 million or so, would occupy nearly 20 percent of the space. That’s bad business. They also have 11 other key starters or backups in the last year of their deal, so if Cousins played a third year under the tag it would cost them the ability to retain multiple players.

The transition tag: This would enable Washington, which would owe Cousins $28.7 million under the transition tag, to match any offer from other teams. But there’s a problem: The offer could be too tough to match. The Redskins will have plenty of cap space — overthecap.com projects them at $54 million — so they could absorb a massive first-year hit on a new deal. However, as noted in the franchise-tag section, it would prohibit the Redskins from re-signing some of their other players. San Francisco, in need of a long-term starting quarterback, projects to have around $49 million in cap space. Those numbers don’t include possible carryover space from 2017 or players who could be released.

The 49ers — or another team — could make a heavily front-loaded deal with a player opt-out clause for the second year, much like the deal Alex Mack signed three years ago when under the transition tag with Cleveland. A year later, he opted out and bolted. If the Redskins matched such an offer, they would do so knowing Cousins could simply leave in 2019. It becomes an expensive one-year rental. However, if he opted out and signed elsewhere, the Redskins would receive a compensatory draft pick. If they fail to match the original offer, they wouldn’t receive compensation. If Cousins doesn’t get the offer he wants, or from the team he wants, he could always sign the tag and do this dance all over again in 2019.