BBC pundit and former England ace Chris Waddle has cast doubt over the legitimacy of Philippe Coutinho’s back injury, and believes Liverpool should sell.
The Brazilian international missed his side’s Premier League season opener against Watford this weekend with the knock, while it remains to be seen whether or not he recovers in time for the Champions League qualifier against Hoffenheim next week.
Waddle isn’t buying it though, as he believes that ultimately the 25-year-old is looking for a move to Barcelona and has questioned the convenient timing of the injury when he’s pushing for the transfer to happen after handing in a request on Friday.
"A back injury…wow!"
Chris Waddle doubts Philippe Coutinho's back injury…#WATLIV #LFC pic.twitter.com/VyWSNYGv4y
— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) August 13, 2017
The official line from the club has been that it’s the injury that is keeping Coutinho out of Jurgen Klopp’s plans for now, but perhaps Waddle has a point.
The former Tottenham, Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday star went on to insist that in his opinion, Liverpool are better off just selling him now rather than keeping a player who has his heart set on a move to Barcelona.
While that sounds like a sensible strategy, the problem is that there is just two weeks remaining in the transfer window so who could Klopp bring in to replace him? It’s a difficult situation for the Reds, but one that they’ll likely have to figure out in the coming days.