OPINION
It can be hard to forgive somebody who broke your heart.
That kind of thing can take years and a lot of internal conflict, and even then, some people can’t manage it at all.
When Phillipe Coutinho forced through a move from Liverpool to Barcelona for the princely some of £142 million, there were more than a few Kopites who were left genuinely gutted.
As time has passed, and with the subsequent acquisitions of Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk, plus the small matter of a Champions League title, those wounds have healed to a decent level, but they could be about to get ripped wide open once again.
According to a report by the Express, the 27-year-old could be leaving Spain this summer, and Merseyside is being touted as a potential destination.
And those rumours certainly won’t be helped by the latest comments from the Brazilian’s representative, Kia Joorabchian.
As quoted by journalist Dave O’Connell, he told Sky Sports: “Liverpool lies very deeply in his heart.
“He’s a big fan of them.
“It would be very difficult for him to go to a direct competitor of Liverpool.”
Kia Joorabchian, Coutinho's representative, to Sky Sports: "Liverpool lies very deeply in his heart. He's a big fan of them. It would be very difficult for him to go to a direct competitor of Liverpool."
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) July 13, 2019
Cue the rumour mills and punishing column inches on whether or not he will come back to the Premier League.
Right from the off, to simplify things, it should be pointed out that he almost certainly won’t.
Jurgen Klopp has been clear about how conservative he plans to be in the transfer market this summer, and Coutinho would be about as outlandish a signing as he could he wish to make.
Just because he won’t sign doesn’t mean he shouldn’t though.
The playmaker may not have been able to replicate his Liverpool form all the time on the continent, but he still a real danger man, and his pass completion rate of 87.9%, 2.5 shots on goal per game, and 1.3 key passes per match last season [Whoscored] illustrate a player who can still mix it at the highest level.
It wouldn’t cheap, and it might not be this summer, but the Reds should bring him home.
