Premier League runners-up Liverpool sold Philippe Coutinho to La Liga champions Barcelona in January 2018 for a staggering £105m.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has admitted to the Echo that he would jump at the chance to bring Philippe Coutinho back to Anfield, 17 months after the Brazilian international forced through a move to Barcelona.
The gifted play-maker spent five-and-a-half years on Merseyside, establishing himself as a genuinely world class talent under Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp.
But he has looked a shadow of his former self since being handed his dream move to Barcelona in January 2018. Coutinho – who cost the La Liga champions an initial £105 million according to the Guardian – has really struggled to exert any sort of an influence alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in attack.
To make matters worse, he has often been jeered by his own supporters with critics taking aim at the 26-year-old again after his anonymous performance in Barcelona’s infamous 4-0 Champions League semi-final defeat against his old employers recently.
Despite all this, however, Carragher believes Liverpool would be foolish not to bring Coutinho back if given the opportunity.
“I wouldn’t say I would be actively going to get him, but if there was a possibility of bringing Coutinho back for decent money, and Barca wanted to cut their losses a little bit because it hasn’t worked out, then I’d do that,” he said to the ECHO.
“Would he be welcomed back? I’m not sure. But he should be. I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be.
“(Xabi) Alonso wanted to move to Real Madrid, Suarez wanted to move to Barcelona, and we still loved them when they went.”
According to Goal, Coutinho wants to stay and prove himself in Catalonia but some members of the Barca board are increasingly keen to cut their losses.
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