Philippe Coutinho's Liverpool future has been under the microscope ever since Barcelona made their interest known in the summer.

The Catalan giants targeted the Brazilian after they sold Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record deal worth close to £200m.

Liverpool could not be persuaded to sell, though, and managed to keep hold of their star attraction.

Since the transfer was refused, Coutinho has managed to re-focus and score nine goals and create six assists in 14 appearances in all competitions.

The rumours about a possible switch to Barcelona continue to rumble ahead of the January transfer window.

Following Liverpool's 7-0 thumping of Spartak Moscow, in which Coutinho scored a hat-trick, the Brazilian joined Carragher and former Norwegian striker Jan Aage Fjortoft in a televised interview.

During the broadcast, Carragher's phone began to ring, which prompted the interviewer to say "it's probably Barcelona, it's Barcelona!"

The retired defender tried to save his embarrassment by saying "no, he's staying" while gesturing towards Coutinho, who joined in with the laughter.

The 25-year-old refrained from commenting on the speculation and continued talking about the game against Spartak.

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