It was announced yesterday that Liverpool and Barcelona had reached an agreement over the transfer of Coutinho for £142million.

Coutinho is currently in Barcelona and will be paraded tomorrow morning after a medical and confirmation of the deal will seal a dream move for the Brazilian.

But had Real Madrid got their way, Coutinho could have been lining up for them instead.

According to sensational claims in Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Madrid spoke to a member of Coutinho’s entourage this week about a move to the Bernabeu.

And Real made clear they were ready to spend £177m to sign the 25-year-old.

However, Coutinho rejected the move as Barcelona were the only club he wanted to join.

Coutinho could make his Barcelona debut later this week if he recovers from a thigh injury.

And La Liga expert Guillem Balague says Coutinho was primarily signed as a long-term replacement for Andres Iniesta.

"Iniesta is getting old. It has been suggested that this is his last season at Barcelona with huge offers on the table from China," said Balague.

"Barcelona need that type of quality in midfield. Coutinho is not Iniesta yet, in fact they seem him as more of a forward at the moment, but he can develop the skills needed.

"At the beginning Coutinho won't have many defensive obligations without the ball but he'll have to learn those because they see him, in the medium term, as a midfielder.

"They think that for him to do so, he will have to understand the positional game of Barcelona, to do a bigger shift without the ball.

"At the moment what they need straight away is a replacement for Neymar, which they did not get [in the summer]."