Spanish media bigging up Philippe Coutinho

Brazilian duo Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino are on their way back to Melwood to prepare for Liverpool’s massive Premier League fixture against Manchester United on Monday.

Both players are reporting back tomorrow, a day later than other Reds who have been away on international duty, due to their late World Cup qualifier in Venezuela which was played at 1.30am UK time this morning. They now face a 5,000-mile journey back to Merseyside.

Coutinho played 83 mins of Brazil’s 2-0 win over Venezuela. Roberto Firmino watched the game from the bench.

Meanwhile, the Spanish media have started to ‘big up’ Coutinho due to his impressive form for club and country so far this season by stating that the Liverpool forward is now ready to become South America’s next huge star having been in the shadow of Neymar.

Spanish football newspaper Marca, widely accepted as Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, ran an article yesterday stating Coutinho’s time had come due to Neymar being suspended for last night’s match.

The good news is that Coutinho continually states that he’s happy at Liverpool and while we’re not naive enough to believe what any footballer says, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest that he’s unsettled following the arrival of Jürgen Klopp. Towards the end of Brendan Rodger’s reign we were starting to hear a few whispers but just now everything’s calm so let’s hope it stays that way.

It’s a no-brainer that both Real Madrid and Barcelona will be monitoring Coutinho’s progress at Anfield but do we think he’ll end up in La Liga? Check out our thoughts on the KopTalk Members’ website.