Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore has appeared to distance the club from a reunion with Philippe Coutinho by suggesting that the midfielder would no longer fit their style of play under Jurgen Klopp.
Coutinho spent five years at Anfield before making the move to Barcelona in January 2018 for a fee which could rise to as much as £142million.
The 27-year-old struggled to make an impact in his first 18 months at the Camp Nou and joined German champions Bayern Munich on loan last summer.
Speaking to the Cape Town Official Liverpool Supporters Club on Saturday (via Soccer Laduma), Moore said: "When Philippe Coutinho left there was a change, not only to the structure of the team but to the way we played football.
"If you recall, when he left two years ago, then it was a complete change of style of play and we [hardly] lost a game over the balance of the season.
"No disrespect to Philippe but he had a different style of play...The money came in and the money we got from Barcelona then helped fund Alisson Becker."
Coutinho scored 54 goals and provided 45 assists in 201 appearances for Liverpool following his £8.5m move from Inter Milan in January 2013.
However, he has struggled to replicate his impressive displays at Anfield since leaving for Spain and moved to Bundesliga giants Bayern at the start of the campaign on a season-long loan deal which includes an option to buy.
Meanwhile, the Reds have enjoyed significant success since the playmaker's departure, finishing last season as Champions League winners before lifting the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup trophies during the current campaign.
And the club are also on course to claim their first Premier League title after storming to a huge 22-point lead at the top of the table.
Klopp's side have dropped just two points all season and return from their scheduled winter break with a trip to Norwich on Saturday before travelling to Atletico Madrid for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie next week.
