Last Updated: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:40
Southampton's £10.2m bid for Inter Milan's Philippe Coutinho has been accepted, but the player would reportedly rather join Liverpool.
The 20-year-old Brazilian playmaker had been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool during this current transfer window, but the Merseysiders were only willing to pay around £8million.
The Saints' stepped in earlier this week with more money, but Coutinho claimed he was not for sale and did not want to leave the San Siro in light of Wesley Sneijder's departure to Galatasaray which will leave a void in the midfield for him to possibly fill.
However, it emerged on Friday that Inter had agreed a fee with the Saints and were willing to offload him to the South Coast outfit in order to fund their bid for Paulinho from Corinthians.
But Coutinho appears to have muddied the waters again as Gazzetta Dello Sport is reporting that he is not willing to join the Saints and is urging Inter to let him move to Liverpool if he is being sold.
Therefore Inter will either have to wait for an improved offer from the Reds or Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino, who had Coutinho on loan at Espanyol from last January until the end of last season, will have to use his powers of persuasion to change his mind.
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