Cascarino baffled as to why ‘gifted’ star Liverpool sold in 2018 was an Anfield fan favourite

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Tony Cascarino told TalkSport that he ‘never brought into’ why Liverpool fans saw Philippe Coutinho as a fan favourite at the club.

In 2018, Liverpool sold the Brazil playmaker to Barcelona in what was one of the most expensive transfers of all time.

Whilst he was a key player for Liverpool during that time, they went onto use that money to bring in Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker… and the rest is history!

But boyhood Liverpool fan and ex-Republic of Ireland striker Cascarino couldn’t understand why Coutinho was a fan favourite even though he admits that he was a ‘gifted’ playmaker.

“He is a very good footballer and technically superb,” said Cascarino. “But I never brought into how some Liverpool fans thought he was an absolute messiah for Liverpool is Coutinho.

“I thought he held onto the ball a bit too long. He was gifted. He shot way too often. When he did have a great season, he did have one that a number of his shots started to fly into the top corner.

“But I never really brought into Coutinho, yet a lot of the fans loved him. I think we all have that at football clubs – What am I missing?

“I thought when he left Liverpool, they were better off.”

Whilst Coutinho was a key figure during his time on Merseyside, his sale to Barcelona did start the road to their dominance during these past few years.

Whilst Manchester City have perhaps dampened the work Liverpool did during their trophyless seasons, Jurgen Klopp still delivered a European Cup and a first English League title in three decades.

It has to be questioned if those in the Catalan boardroom didn’t throw so much money on the table for Coutinho, whether Van Dijk and Alisson would have arrived because they were the game-changers for where Liverpool are right now… well, not right now because they’re eighth!

But they have come a long way.