Barcelona have had a third bid for Philippe Coutinho rejected out of hand by Liverpool, as their struggle to replace Neymar continues into deep August.

Having already had two bids for the Brazilian turned down, Barcelona weren't lucky the third time around, despite upping their offer to a deal that could have reached a sum of £114 million, making Coutinho the second most expensive player in history - after Neymar.

However, various media outlets are reporting that the guaranteed sum in the offer was just £82M, with add-on's including things like potential Champions League wins and Balon d'Or triumphs for Coutinho helping the Catalans reach the £114M figure.

Therefore, the third offer isn't a drastic increase on the first two that Liverpool turned down.

Coutinho pushing for Barcelona move

Coutinho has submitted a transfer request and made his intentions to move to Spain clear, and is currently out of action with a bad back, an injury that has been speculated as being feigned by many.

The tactic doesn't seem to be working for him so far, with Liverpool's owners FSG showing no signs of budging from the position they made clear in a statement a couple of weeks ago, where they stated that the 25-year-old wouldn't be leaving Merseyside this summer.

Barcelona have even gone to the lengths of bidding for Coutinho at unsettling times, on the eve's of Liverpool's first two Premier League games, in an attempt to force the English club's arm.

Liverpool don't want to let their the player that many consider to be their best, leave, and the timing of the bids haven't helped Barcelona's cause, with little time being left in the window for the Reds to sign a replacement.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Catalan giants will return with bid number four, but this transfer saga doesn't seem to be reaching a conclusion anytime soon.

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