Barcelona are said to have ended their interest in Philippe Coutinho.
Liverpool rebuffed a £72 million approach from the Catalans for Coutinho, who signed a new five year contract with the club at the end of January.
The Brazil playmaker had emerged as a potential incoming at the Nou Camp in the wake of Neymar’s world-record £198m transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
But various reports in Italy suggest that Barca are now preparing to shelve their pursuit of Coutinho in favour of a move for Juventus star Paulo Dybala.
Dybala has emerged as Ernesto Valverde’s preferred target this summer, meaning that a move for the Reds’ talisman is now firmly off the agenda.
Coutinho will miss Liverpool’s final pre-season friendly with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after he was ruled out of the Dublin trip with a slight back problem.
Jurgen Klopp continuously reminded Barcelona that the 25-year-old was not for sale in a stance which was echoed privately by the Anfield hierarchy.