Paper Round: Philippe Coutinho could leave Liverpool for Barcelona today

Liverpool fans can't relax yet - Brazilian forward Philippe Coutinho could still leave the club for Barcelona today. The Spanish transfer window doesn't close until midnight tonight, meaning that he could still complete his £160m transfer to Spain. The 25-year-old hasn't featured in Liverpool's recent matches, and it had been reported that he could yet complete a move. The Sun add that wantaway Leicester City midfielder Riyad Mahrez could also join the Catalan giants on Friday.

Paper Round's view: Liverpool have signed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, an attacking player supposedly joining the club due to a wish to play central midfield. That, in theory, makes him a potential replacement for Coutinho. An offer of £160m would be hard for any business to turn down, and one should consider that the chance to raise such a figure from Barcelona is due to the unique Neymar transfer, rather than simple inflation.

Juventus are attempting another clever transfer move, this time for Liverpool's Emre Can. The 23-year-old is yet to sign a new contract at Anfield and is available on a free transfer at the end of the season. As such, Juventus offered Liverpool the chance to make some kind of money from his sale with a 25m euro bid, but the club turned them down as they will not sign RB Leipzig's Naby Keita until next summer.

Paper Round's view: The bid is typical Juventus, who know how to find bargains when everyone else is throwing cash around. They could tie Can down with a pre-contract agreement at the start of 2018, with no transfer cost to them. While Can is an inconsistent performer, they can expect that his relatively young age means he will still improve over the course of his time in Italy.

Alexis Sanchez believed he was about to join Manchester City, only for the move to collapse. City and Arsenal had agreed a deal worth £55m, rising to a possible £60m, and Sanchez was due to undergo a medical in Chile. However, Arsenal's proposed replacement, Monaco's 21-year-old French international Thomas Lemar, turned down a move. In turn, that meant that Arsenal could not rubber-stamp any deal to let the 28-year-old winger leave.

Paper Round's view: David de Gea's move to Real Madrid fell apart because it was left until the last moment, because of the player's failure to hand in a transfer request and because Real Madrid dawdled. The same has happened here. If Manchester City really wanted to give Pep Guardiola Sanchez, they could have agreed a sum weeks ago. If Sanchez had wanted to force his move, he too could have asked to leave. Leaving multi-million, moving-part deals to the last minute means this kind of thing is always possible.

A similar foul-up happened on Chelsea's watch. For about a year, Chelsea have been interested in Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente. An experienced, bargain-priced striker was available for back-up, and Antonio Conte wanted him as a reinforcement, even though Diego Costa remains at the club. For around £15m, Spurs have an excellent alternative to Harry Kane, and Mauricio Pochettino got the late additions that he needed. Conte has none.

Paper Round's view: Again, Chelsea have vast riches and have known that they have a Champions League campaign to come, and a manager who believes his squad is understaffed. Llorente would have cost a pittance and has already proven himself on both the international stage and the Premier League. Instead of acting promptly, they missed out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley (during his medical) and finally Llorente, signing only Danny Drinkwater and Torino wing-back Davide Zappacosta.