Could Liverpool have a genuine chance of winning the Premier League with this XI including Barcelona target Philippe Coutinho?
Speculation about the future of Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho is rife after Neymar completed his eye-watering £200m (BBC) move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
Coutinho is viewed as the ideal replacement for his Brazilian counterpart at the Camp Nou and according to the Daily Star, Barca are preparing a £108m bid to try and convince the Reds to sell.
Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has reiterated that the 25-year-old is not leaving Anfield following the Neymar news, quoted by the Express as saying: “Everybody thought ‘he’s going, he’s going, he’s going’ but so far nobody is going.”
Klopp also admits that if Coutinho does indeed stay he will have some welcome selection problems with so much talent in his squad, but here is how we think the Merseysiders could line up with the Brazil international included.
There are some seriously tough calls to make, not least in goal where Simon Mignolet, Loris Karius and Danny Ward could all stake a claim to be number one.
Nathaniel Clyne is the first choice right-back and Joel Matip was the standout star last term in central defence, but Dejan Lovren may well be competing with Ragnar Klavan for the other berth. New signing Andrew Robertson completes the back four.
Coutinho will probably need to drop deeper with so many options in attacking midfield, where Jordan Henderson will provide the defensive nous and Georginio Wijnaldum’s box-to-box abilities may give him the edge over the more offensively minded Adam Lallana.
In attack Roberto Firmino’s false nine attributes gets him the nod over the injury-prone Daniel Sturridge, with the South American flanked by the impressive Sadio Mane and new club record signing Mohamed Salah.
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