The Liverpool midfielder has been in impressive form this season.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Phil Thompson has agreed with Jamie Carragher’s comments that Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho could play for any of the world’s top teams.
The Brazilian has been in fine form for the Reds this season, with four goals and four assists in 10 league games so far.
It has continued his impressive improvement under Jurgen Klopp since he took charge last October.
That has led to widespread praise from fans and pundits alike, who believe he is finally pushing to enter that upper echelon of players.
One who has been impressed is Carragher, who this week expressed his high opinion of the Brazilian to the Daily Mail.
“Coutinho has become one of the stars of the Premier League,” he said.
“You could put him in the No 10 position of any of Liverpool’s rivals — Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United — and he would fit in seamlessly and enhance their quality.”
That is a bold claim but when asked about them by Sky Sports, Thompson agreed with what the former Reds defender had said.
“Philippe Coutinho is one of those rare talents,” he said.
“Jamie Carragher said now he gets him off his seat and he is quite correct. He could play in that Barcelona team, Real Madrid team, he has great ability.”
It is now up to Coutinho to maintain his current form and prove that the praise from Carragher and Thompson is warranted.
He is arguably the main man at Anfield at this moment in time and it will be interesting to see if he can deal with the pressure that comes with that label.
He appears to be comfortable with it so far but he has struggled for consistency during his time at the club.
Scoring goals will help to dispel the doubts and beating his best tally of 12 last season will go a long way to doing just that.
Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho celebrates scoring their fourth goal
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