Just over two years ago Philippe Coutinho was playing the best football of his career under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, which saw him earn the South American dream move. But today it was reported by The Mirror that the Reds boss did hold talks with the Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards to re-sign the Brazilian playmaker.
Coutinho followed in the footsteps of Romário, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to the Catalan giants, Barcelona, for £140m, making him the third most expensive transfer ever at the time, a fee which Coutinho himself reportedly contributed towards.
Now, two and half seasons later, the 27-year-old is over midway through his loan spell at the reigning Bundesliga Champions, Bayern Munich, and faces a second summer of uncertainty, assuming football is able to resume back to normal soon. Reports are increasingly suggesting that Bayern Munich manager, Hans-Dieter Flick, does not have Coutinho in his plans so the Bavarian club will not be triggering the option to buy clause come June. At the same time, his parent club, are also reportedly looking to cut their losses on the club’s most expensive ever signing.
It is without a doubt that once upon a time Coutinho lay firmly in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans as his twinkle toes dazzled the Kop regularly. Signed by Brendan Rodgers in January 2013 for only £8.5m, after failing to mount a significant start during his first stint on the continent at Inter Milan. A fresh-faced magician had arrived in the North West and it wasn’t long before he had Liverpool fans daring to dream in their 2013/14 quest for the Premier League crown.
Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling, Steven Gerrard and Brendan Rodgers all came to part ways with the club over the seasons and it was Coutinho who stepped up and became a beacon of light as he developed his game year on year. And then, the arrival of Jurgen Klopp late in 2015 brought with it a new lease of life and Coutinho was one of many who thrived off of this. Amid all the progress the watchful eye of Barcelona was never too far away and in the background transfer speculation and rumours always linked the Brazilian with a move away swapping battered cod for calamari.
August 2017, Coutinho handed in a transfer request the day before the season opener against Watford. After months of pressure the walls had finally caved in and the hearts of many fans broke. For a generation, it was “first Torres, then Suarez, then Sterling and now Coutinho as well”. The question hot on everyone’s lips: How can you expect to progress when you lose your best player every year? This was something Klopp knew all too well from his time at Borussia Dortmund with the might of Bayern Munich so powerful.
And yet despite all of this, it was deemed a success when the hierarchy at Liverpool were able to dig their heels in and keep Coutinho at the club for at least 4 more months. And what some 4 months they came to be for the individual, bagging 20 goal contributions in 20 games and averaging a goal every 69 minutes in the UEFA Champions League. Of course, he would then be cup-tied for the second half of the season once transferring to Barcelona, but he was able to almost keep up those numbers in the absence of the injured Ousmane Dembele. He ended the campaign with a total of 36 goals and assists in 42 games, and a Spanish league and cup double.
His first full season where when the cracks started to show. In Klopp’s 4-3-3 he could be the left sided winger or the furthest forward of the centre midfielders, in Ernesto Valverde’s he could do neither. Coutinho was now playing in a system where he wasn’t protected. He was no longer in a system built around him to showcase his strengths whilst hiding his weaknesses.
Dembele was now fit and the preferred option for the front 3 with his pace to accommodate an ageing Luis Suarez, filling the void of Neymar Jr, who had now been at PSG for a year. And Andreas Iniesta had just left for Japan, and with the hefty price tag maybe there was an assumption Coutinho could take his place? But how could anyone ever replace Iniesta?
With the price tag and the pressure that came with it was set up, Coutinho was destined to underwhelm when the expectations were set so high. Now he faces a similar pressure to perform while the clock ticks down and the season draws closer to the end it would appear from comments by his manager that he’s struggling to find the consistency he had at Liverpool. And a reinvented Thomas Muller is ahead of him in the pecking order.
Bayern Chief, Karl-Heinze Rummenigge, said: “Why is [the transfer] not decisive? This is a difficult question,"
"I think he played well in some games, while in others he gave the impression of being a little inhibited.” said Rummenigge.
So, who Coutinho will be employed by next season remains a mystery, the player is said to be keen on a return to Liverpool, but with the club playing in 2 champions league finals, winning one of them and looking likely to secure their first league title in 30 years (assuming football is able to resume to normal) since his departure, an argument can be made that Klopp’s squad have moved far away from the ‘nearly men’ of Coutinho’s era. And with options in Alex Oxlade-chamberlain, Naby Keita and Takumi Minamino, surely Coutinho would be seen as more of a luxury than a necessity, and an expensive luxury at that with Barcelona reportedly wanting £77m for him.
It’s clear a move back to England would favour the Brazilian, but whether a club will be willing to gamble on someone who’s nearing the end of his prime and surplus to requirements at his current clubs remains the conundrum, and with every passing transfer window the enigma becomes more complex.
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