Barcelona are up to their tricks again if reports in Spain are to be believed. The Catalans tried hard to sign Philippe Coutinho and it seemed like we would lose him in the summer window. But surprisingly, we held firm and kept the Brazilian at Anfield.
Coutinho hasn’t played a single game for us this season and even though he was working his way back to fitness, he didn’t feature in our rather embarrassing 5-0 loss at the hands of Manchester City. With the Champions League now in our sights and our first game to be played against Sevilla on Wednesday, Jurgen Klopp would be looking to play our star man and get him going for the rest of the season.
However, Don Balon (h/t The Express) claims that the Brazilian has been told by Barcelona not to play in our Champions League group games. The report claims that the Catalan giants would be returning with a bid in January as they look to complete the deal for the 25-year-old.
Under rules from UEFA, a player who has appeared for one team in the Champions League cannot be registered to play for another team in the same season.
Coutinho, who only signed a £150,000-a-week contract in January earlier this year had even submitted a transfer request but now has to deal with staying at Anfield and give his all ahead of a big season for us and him.
The 25-year-old could follow the route of Luis Suarez, according to Paul Ince. The former Red stated that Coutinho should now focus on the Champions League and give his all for us, which can bring the fans back to his side.
“Philippe Coutinho has to try to copy Luis Suarez the season after he was told he could not leave,” Ince said, as quoted by the Express.
“One thing about Liverpool fans, as long as Coutinho does things the right way, the fans will still love him.
“They will understand the lure of Barcelona and will not hold it against him, just as long as he does not spend his time moping or show the kind of body language Arsenal fans have occasionally seen from Alexis Sanchez.
“Coutinho does not strike me as that type of player.
“There were a few eyebrows raised at Barca’s £120m valuation and he will have to shine in the Champions League to show he is truly worth that kind of money.”
The Brazilian doesn’t really have a chance of not putting in his best, since the World Cup is around the corner next summer. Not performing well could see him miss out on his place in the national side.
Brazil have already booked their place for the World Cup and if Coutinho can turn on the magic for us at least this season, he could be celebrating silverware even before jumping on the plane with the Samba boys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3H4I1LBzGs
