Could we see the return of the prodigal son, Philippe Coutinho? It seems unlikely that Liverpool would go back in for their once prized asset, but here is why I believe a return for the Brazilian shouldn’t be out of the cards.
A large majority of games this season, Liverpool have won by one goal margins, failing to set the scoreboards alight as they did in the previous year. Some would argue that it is because Liverpool struggle against teams that defend with a low block, citing the lack of creativity or that defence splitting pass that would usually come from the midfield as the reason why.
Philippe Coutinho was arguably the best Midfielder to feature for the Reds in the last decade, and he certainly knew how to ‘thread the needle’ and make something out of nothing. An option most fans would agree that brings more to the squad than Naby Keita for example.
With links to Bayer Leverkusen’s wonder kid Kai Havertz, Liverpool would have to splash an enormous amount of cash to bring the budding German in, but that would go against Liverpool’s spending policy, unless they offload one of their stars.
A cut price deal with Barcelona to get Coutinho off their hands could actually make more sense, especially since the Brazilian knows Jurgen Klopp’s system and wouldn’t need any time to settle in or adjust compared to someone like Havertz.
With transfer rumours elsewhere linking Liverpool to a move with RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner for around £60 million, it would be more feasible to acquire the striker and Coutinho for £120 million combined rather than just spend it all of Havertz.
Of course, the Brazilian would have to accept that he wouldn’t just walk straight into the team. He would have to work hard to earn back the trust of the Klopp, his team-mates but most importantly, the fans.
Football is an unpredictable sport, so we will have to wait and see if Coutinho will once again wear the red shirt.
(Picture taken by Oleg Bkhambri (Voltmetro), under Creative Commons License)
