Liverpool, June 13: Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho celebrated his 25th birthday yesterday (June 12) and got his biggest birthday gift from Brazil manager Tite as he was named as the captain of Brazil side for the first time in his career against Australia in a friendly match.

It is a public knowledge that the Brazilian superstar is a long-term target of Barcelona but the Liverpool number ten dismissed Barcelona transfer speculations during the press-conference.

The Liverpool star has distanced himself from a move to Barcelona terming a move as “complicated", insisting his focus remains with the Anfield club.

Coutinho enjoyed his best season at Liverpool since arriving from Inter in January 2013, scoring 13 Premier League goals and registering seven assists.

The 25-year-old has signed a long-term contract, believed to run until 2022, but has continually been linked with a switch to Camp Nou and has once again moved to rule out a move.

"Talking about this is complicated," Coutinho told reporters. "I have a contract with my club and it is long. So my focus is on the present and the national team. My focus is here."

Coutinho, who turned 25-years-old on Monday, became one of Liverpool's highest-paid players upon signing his new contract in January but his contract did not consist a buyout clause which made many of the Liverpool fans concerned about their little magician's future.

Barcelona stars Neymar and Luis Suarez are close friends of the Brazilian maestro with Neymar stating more than once publicly that he wants to play alongside Coutinho at Camp Nou. Brazil manager Tite also stated a few weeks back that Coutinho is an ideal fit for the Catalan club.

We have to wait and see what future holds for the 25-year-old but with Liverpool being back in the Champions League and the manager Jurgen Klopp rating him highly, Liverpool fans should be happy about Coutinho dismissing Barcelona talks.

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