NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.87: Philippe Coutinho
Years: 2013-2017
Appearances: 201
Goals: 54
Liverpool benefited from five years’ worth of Brazilian magic from Philippe Coutinho.
The January 2013 arrival from Internazionale always had that brilliant eye for a pass but later added goals – quite often spectacular ones – to his skillset while at Anfield.
“He’s a phenomenal footballer,” Steven Gerrard once said of his teammate, a player he would later sign as a manager. “He can do magical things with the ball.”
A hugely impressive debut half-season was a sign of things to come from the No.10, who delivered eight goal involvements from 13 outings.
He thrived in a role behind Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez when the Reds produced an unlikely challenge for the Premier League title in 2013-14.
His importance to the team grew year on year, appearing 52 times in Brendan Rodgers’ final full campaign in charge, 2014-15.
Coutinho’s game and responsibility were elevated even further under Jürgen Klopp, although silverware continued to evade him after defeats in the finals of the League Cup and Europa League in 2015-16.
A return to Champions League football was clinched, however, in 2016-17 as Coutinho racked up 14 goals and nine assists, despite missing six weeks due to injury.
By that point he was one of the Premier League’s brightest talents and drew interest from Barcelona, although Liverpool blocked a move there in the summer of 2017.
Coutinho had scored 12 times in the first part of 2017-18 before his wish to head to Spain was granted in the January.
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