Liverpool: Is Coutinho good enough to play for Barcelona and Real Madrid ?

However, another revelation has emerged from this serialised autobiography with Gerrard claiming Real Madrid and Barcelona are ready to seduce Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho to Spain. You cannot dispute the players ability and at 23 years of age is still nowhere near his peak. He has only been on Merseyside since 2013 but has already […]
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sambafoot_admin
2015-09-16 15:36:00

However, another revelation has emerged from this serialised autobiography with Gerrard claiming Real Madrid and Barcelona are ready to seduce Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho to Spain.

You cannot dispute the players ability and at 23 years of age is still nowhere near his peak. He has only been on Merseyside since 2013 but has already earned the tag ‘the little magician’ from his team-mates as his vision, dribbling and fearlessness to shoot, combined with his elusiveness to leave defenders in their wake has seen him emerge as the clubs talisman.

Gerrard himself said; “Many Reds supporters will see him as our key man, he has just signed a new contract (until 2020) and his wife is settled in Liverpool…”  

However he did move to admit the lure of Spanish clubs for Latin American players; “It is at this point that it will become difficult for Liverpool because the desire to join one of these clubs is very large for any South American or Spanish player. But by then, Liverpool should really have cherished Coutinho.”

For many, a move to either Catalonia or Madrid will seem inevitable for this crafty Brazilian in the next few years. He has all the credentials to operate in either of the Spanish systems, many may say his style suits Barcelona better for their close, technical play but their end game is releasing Luis Suarez, Neymar or more often than not Lionel Messi to take the glory shot. Despite looking fluid and off the cuff, Barcelona are very structured in their build up play which may stifle Coutinho’s enigmaticism, where at Liverpool he is given license to roam around the final third, finding pockets of space to exploit to slip a team-mate through or unleash a shot of his own.  

This is where you could suggest the 23 year old could fit into Madrid’s style where there are many players ailing to play in the number 10 role behind Karim Benzema in the team. Albeit when you have the likes of Isco, James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo it is difficult to pin down one, Madrid coach Benitez has gone with Gareth Bale in that much-heralded position. This is where he excels for Wales and has started promisingly for his club as Bale begins his third and maybe most important season at the Bernabeu thus far. Gerrard said on BT Sport recently that Benitez helped evolve his play to suit the number 10 role when he and Fernando Torres were running riot in 2008/09. The ex-Liverpool captain suggested Benitez is one of the best for keeping to a plan and structure and would help Bale tenfold to time his runs and where to move to excel in that position. This suggests that after Gerrard and Bale this could extend to Coutinho in time.

The Los Angeles Galaxy player affirms the players potential admitting Spain’s top two clubs will definitely come calling soon;  “I know that the two great Spanish clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will look for it (to sign Coutinho) in seasons to come, as they have done for Luis Suarez.”

There is definitely a ember in Coutinho that will ignite at some point to play at the highest level on a regular basis. Whilst currently his main goal should be to try to take the mantle of Liverpool’s talisman from Gerrard and establish himself on the level of David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Wayne Rooney as his clubs marquee player, if indeed the club fail to qualify for Champions League next season then the Spanish giants especially may begin to tug at the heartstrings of the Brazilian. 

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