Coutinho, Dembele ‘close’ to battered Barcelona

MADRID: Barcelona’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez grimaces as he sits on the ground during the second leg of the Spanish Supercup football match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday. —AFP

BARCELONA: Troubled Barcelona were dealt a new blow ahead of the start of the Spanish league season when Luis Suarez was ruled out for a month with a knee injury yesterday. The Uruguayan striker suffered the injury in the second half of Wednesday night’s 2-0 defeat away to Real Madrid in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, although he played on to the end as Barcelona lost 5- 1 on aggregate. “Luis Suarez will be out of action for around four weeks. Tests carried out on Thursday morning confirm that the Uruguayan has a distension in the posterior articular capsule in his right knee picked up in the second half of the Clasico on Wednesday in the Santiago Bernabeu,” said Barcelona in a statement in English published on their website.

The news means Suarez will miss Barcelona’s first three games of the season in La Liga, at home to Betis on Sunday, away to Alaves on Aug 26 and at home to Espanyol on Sept 9. He will also miss Uruguay’s World Cup qualifying ties against Argentina on Aug 31 and Paraguay on Sept 5 and is likely to sit out his club’s first Champions League group game on Sept 12 or 13. Barcelona also revealed that defender Gerard Pique is a doubt for the meeting with Betis due to a groin strain, meaning further bad news for the Spanish giants whose summer has been overshadowed by the sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

Meanwhile, Barcelona could be handed a lift as a senior official claimed the club are “close” to signing Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele. Pep Segura, Barca’s general manager, said negotiations with Liverpool for Brazilian playmaker Coutinho and Borussia Dortmund over a deal for promising French winger Dembele could be finalized within days. “We have to help the team with reinforcements and they will be here in the coming days,” Segura told Catalan TV station Esport3 after Barca lost the second leg of the Super Cup 2-0 at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu. “We are discussing the conditions of Coutinho and Dembele...they are close. “We hope they will be Barca players next season.” Barca’s season has been thrown into turmoil by Neymar’s world record 222 million euro ($261 million) move to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month. New Barca coach Ernesto Valverde admitted Neymar’s absence has affected the balance of the side.

Meanwhile, the Catalans have struggled to close deals for Coutinho and Dembele with Liverpool and Dortmund holding out for fees in excess of 100 million euros in the knowledge of Barca’s desperation to land a replacement before the transfer window shuts on August 31. Barca defender Gerard Pique denied reports there is a growing feud between club’s players and under-pressure board. However, Pique admitted Barca have plenty of work to do if they are to close they gap on Madrid, who have added to their crowns as European and Spanish champions by winning both the UEFA and Spanish Super Cups in style over the past week. “We are not in the best moment. Not as a team or as a club,” said Pique. “We have to stick together and move forward. The season is long and it has just begun. Madrid were superior so we have to live with defeat, congratulate them and improve.” —AFP