In this paper, we consider a resource-consumer model taking into account a linear coupling between species (with constant rate). The corresponding operator is proportional to a discretization of the Laplacian in such a way that the resulting dynamical system can be viewed as a regular perturbation of the classical chemostat system. We prove the existence of a unique locally asymptotically stable steady-state for every value of the transfer-rate and every value of the dilution rate not exceeding a critical value. In addition, we give an expansion of the steady-state in terms of the transfer-rate and we prove a uniform persistence property of the dynamics related to each species. Finally, we show that this equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable for every value of the transfer-rate provided that the dilution rate is with small enough values.