Olympique Marseille are serious about signing Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

That's according to local journalist Thibaud Vézirian, who was bristling over claims Marseille lack the spending power and status to attract the Brazil international.

On his YouTube channel, Vezirian rapped: "Coutinho, is it true or is it false? Right after my video, there were denials. There is a Spanish journalist unknown to the battalion who came to defend Barça by saying: 'Barça is laughing at this affair and at OM'.

"We are going to clear things up. Barça are not laughing at all at OM, Barça seeks to approve the contracts of Depay, Agüero, seeks to extend Messi. They are not kidding at all OM's hyperactive transfer window. Barca are looking to free Coutinho so that Coutinho can leave. And yes, it is not an excluded option that I announced. It's been already since the end of May that it was discussed.

"The negotiations are long, he must be released. And the big agents are back around OM, there is money and we see it with this type of contact. But again, that does not mean that this player will sign for Olympique de Marseille. It's called the transfer window, it's called negotiations. When I see journalists saying it's fake news, I laughed out loud. How can we say that? In the transfer window, to be able to say that, you have to have information on the seller's side, information on the buyer's side, to confront all of this. And it is not because at the club or at the player's home that you are told no, that it is reality. In this case, it's more honest to say that we don't know."