Barcelona 'ready to buy' Philippe Coutinho as Liverpool legend sticks the knife into Jose Mourinho

Liverpool news and gossip round-up: An update on that Christmas Eve kick-off time, youngster scores screamer for England and Chris Kirkland opens up on his battle with depression

Liverpool are expected to hold firm in their refusal to sell Philippe Coutinho (AFP/Getty Images)

Barcelona’s chief executive has been talking up a January transfer move for Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho saying the Catalan giants are “ready to buy”.

The 25-year-old was the subject of a summer-long pursuit by Barca with the Reds rejecting three bids for their star man – and it looks as though the La Liga club’s desire is as strong as ever.

“We are ready to buy Coutinho in the winter market, or any player the technical staff request,” said Oscar Grau.

“But it is important to adjust ourselves, so if there are to be arrivals, there must be exits as well. We must forget about the price paid for Neymar last summer. After taxes we received about €188m in income and a direct financial impact on the club’s treasury of €144m.”

Nevertheless, as The Independent reported yesterday, Liverpool are set to hold firm and will refuse to enter negotiations with Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Reds legend Kenny Dalglish has been busy sticking the knife into Jose Mourinho ahead of the clash with Manchester United on Saturday, suggesting the Portuguese will once again play boring at Anfield.

“Last year, when United came to Liverpool, Jose Mourinho parked the bus,” Dalglish told the Daily Mail.

“But it wasn’t just the one bus, I think it was a couple of double deckers he put there. That’s not to give him stick in any way, it was very difficult for Liverpool and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic nearly got a late winner.

“I think United will come and set up quite defensively, but at the same time they have fantastic frontmen in Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial. I think Jose will try to make sure the pressure is on Liverpool, but the pressure is on everyone when it comes to a game like that.”

Dalglish predicts a 2-1 win for Liverpool.

Looking ahead to that Christmas Eve clash with Arsenal, the Daily Star claims the game will kick-off at 12.30pm .

The Premier League had slated it as a late kick-off but bowed to pressure from supporters’ groups who pointed out just how difficult travel would be back to the north-west that evening.

Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster has been in scintillating form for the England U21s, scoring a wonderful free-kick in their 4-3 victory over Mexico on Wednesday.

Check out the video below:

And finally… former Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has opened up about the struggle with depression which led to his retirement last season in the hope it can help other players.

"It's easy for me to talk about it now because I've seen a way out of it. That is the biggest thing and I want other people and other players to know that you've just got to talk,” he told the Guardian.

"I never saw a way out of it until I started to talk about it. There was a fear. But as soon as you talk, that's when you're helping yourself and your family."