Philippe Coutinho Staying at Liverpool FC

There are different parts to familiar transfer tales where some players fly away and other players stay. Noises are made from their camps that indicate a desire to leave. Noises are made about coming to terms and staying for at least one more season. For Philippe Coutinho, his clear desire to leave and subsequent unprofessional behaviour has been rewarded with another season at Liverpool after the club rejected Barcelona’s insulting third bid.

James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo has discussed the task that Jürgen Klopp faces having to reintegrate Coutinho back into the fold. It is believed that the 25-year-old will not return to action before the international break, but Klopp will not be impressed by what can only described as unsavoury attempts to force a move. Even if those attempts probably don’t matter now that Liverpool know they can rely on his services after the deadline day.

Reports from Brazilian newspaper Estadão claim Coutinho was innocent in all of this. It was Barcelona that manipulated him to threaten never playing again (and that back injury certainly had curious timing) as a ploy to make a move more likely. In fact, they say, Coutinho was following the instructions of his advisors but was always open to playing for Liverpool. And so Coutinho will stay at Anfield and play for Liverpool again. This is what is being reported as coming from Coutinho’s camp, clearly part of paving the way for Liverpool’s number ten to resume his career on Merseyside. What agent Kia Joorabchian makes of this would be quite amusing to hear, but in any case, Barcelona have failed, just like they did with Marco Verratti.

Memories are short in football, but how easy will Coutinho get back to fitness and focusing on doing his best for Liverpool as he has done since January 2013? It is a World Cup season where Coutinho is set to play a key role for Brazil, and it may be an international call-up that will be key to helping him to forget the nonsense that transpired over the summer to earn a move to serious European forces such as Real Madrid or ParIs Saint-Germain. This is just a humble theory from a delighted TLO scribe, but watch out for Coutinho feeling revived after spending some time with his compatriots.

The continuing presence of Alberto Moreno and Roberto Firmino will play a role, too, but ultimately it will be Coutinho’s mentality that will dictate how quickly he gets back into a magical groove. Perhaps a new contract with a release clause that will make matters quite clear for all parties concerned will ensure that Coutinho will trust in the process and do his utmost on the field to satisfy his desire to play elsewhere. Who knows, maybe Liverpool will go one better than Luis Suárez and company this season to win a trophy of some sort.