Liverpool have come a long way.
It only really feels like yesterday that Luis Suarez departed Anfield for Barcelona and they were left with one solitary star in Philippe Coutinho.
For some time, the Brazilian was the beacon of hope in the team. Signed in January 2013 from Inter Milan, he developed into a brilliant playmaker, a dazzling dribbler who could score world-class goals from range and incisively cut open defences.
Suarez left in 2014 and Coutinho stepped up; between 14/15 and the end of the 16/17 campaign, he scored 26 goals and registered 17 assists.
He was the go-to man, the player through which everything flowed.
His form was such that he earned a move to Barcelona, with a £142m transfer fee that boggles the mind to this day.
It hasn’t really worked out. He was not the main man in Catalunya and that brought problems; 76 games yielded 21 goals and 11 assists and resulted in a loan spell to Bayern Munich, which hasn’t gone all that better.
Thus The Daily Mirror reports that he could be on the move this summer, with four Premier League clubs interested: Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur. Jurgen Klopp isn’t keen.
And that speaks to the terrific job he has done during his time at Anfield.
Appointed in 2015, he managed Coutinho for the best part of three seasons but since his exit, he has brought out the genuine brilliance of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane.
Liverpool’s midfield, meanwhile, may lack Coutinho’s eye for the spectacular but its functionality through the likes of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum sums up the mechanical nature of this Liverpool side.
More pertinently, in Coutinho’s absence Klopp has taken the club to Champions League glory and within an inch of the Premier League title. They have lost just two league games across the past two seasons.
Where Coutinho was once Liverpool’s star, it is now difficult to see exactly where he would fit in Klopp’s system.
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Coutinho certainly wouldn’t dislodge the front three, he no longer suits the nature of the midfield and well, he can’t play in defence.
At Bayern, he has scored nine goals this season but clearly, his ex-boss isn’t very impressed.
It is no surprise; Liverpool have outgrown Coutinho since he left and that, really, is down to Klopp’s brilliance.
Meanwhile, a Liverpool flop is set to leave!