Christian Purslow: Liverpool were not close to selling Coutinho
Coutinho looked back to his best in a Liverpool shirt yesterday with a scintillating first 45 minutes in which he whipped in a cross for Mohamed Salah’s goal before scoring with a curling free-kick.
The 25-year-old only made his first start of the season in the match against Burnley last weekend following his transfer saga with Barcelona.
He stated after the game that he was fully focused on playing for Liverpool despite being ‘honoured’ to receive interest from a club like Barcelona.
Coutinho has established himself as Liverpool’s main talisman over the years since Anfield legend Steven Gerrard left the club in 2015.
I wouldn’t go near him and sometimes I’d say to him keep away from me because he’ll embarrass you
Steven Gerrard on Philippe Coutinho
The two players spent 18 months together on Merseyside and, while Coutinho was still acclimatising to the Premier League, Gerrard couldn’t stand facing him in training.
“He’s impossible to defend against,” Gerrard told BT Sport.
“When I used to train against him, I’d hate it when I was on the opposition five-a-side team.
“I wouldn’t go near him and sometimes I’d say to him keep away from me because he’ll embarrass you.
GETTY
Philippe Coutinho scored his first goal of the season for Liverpool in the win over Leicester
GETTY
Steven Gerrard hated playing against Philippe Coutinho in training
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“If you stand him up he can go both ways. He’s got such a low centre of gravity. He’s so sharp, so quick and he’s two or three steps ahead of defenders.”
And current Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson praised Coutinho after the game for being able to produce magical moments.
"Coutinho is a fantastic player,” he said.
“He produces magical things at crucial times of the game. This will give us good confidence going forward."
