Barcelona Transfer News: Josep Maria Bartomeu Talks Philippe Coutinho Rumours

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said the transfer market didn't allow his team to force a move for Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.

He made the statement during an interview with 8tv (h/t Daily Star's James Benson), adding he has no regrets about the team's transfer dealings over the summer:

"If the market does not allow a move, then you can't force one.

"The market is changing sizeably because there is money coming into it that isn't from the world of football.

"I have no frustration with how the transfer period went, I'm very happy with our signings.

"We wanted a good right-back and Semedo arrived, Paulinho arrived in midfield and [Ousmane] Dembele as a Neymar replacement.

"I'm also delighted about Deulofeu's return."

Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

Coutinho was rumoured to be Barcelona's main target to replace Neymar, who completed a record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain. The club instead invested in talented youngster Ousmane Dembele of Borussia Dortmund and also brought in Paulinho from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande.

While fans were happy about the arrival of Dembele, the other moves did not go down well in Catalonia. Paulinho in particular was not wanted by the Blaugrana faithful, although he has started to repay his transfer fee, scoring the winner on Saturday against Getafe.

As a result of the transfer dealings and the club's perceived failings, Bartomeu is not a popular man, as illustrated by Sport's Rik Sharma:

These latest comments might not help his case. While it's certainly true PSG changed the game with their huge move for Neymar, the money from that transfer ended up with the Blaugrana. The idea the club was priced out of a move for Coutinho seems odd as a result―no one had more money to spend late in the window.

The Brazilian is currently being reintegrated into the Liverpool squad:

If the finances behind the failed deal―per the report, the Reds turned down a £118 million offer―are to blame, Coutinho likely won't be moving to the Camp Nou in January, either. Dembele's arrival makes adding another creative forward less of a need, but the fans are still thirsty for another top player.

Bartomeu has been very vocal in the last few weeks, giving a lot of interviews and commenting on a wide variety of topics, but Goal's Ben Hayward suggested he's not actually getting anything done:

It remains to be seen how this latest interview will be received by the fans, but recent history suggests it won't be pretty.