Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil forward Neymar has revealed his international team-mate Philippe Coutinho is "filled with great sadness" amid continued links to Barcelona.
The Liverpool midfielder has been subject of interest from the Blaugrana, though according to Ed Aarons of The Guardian, despite a fourth bid worth £138 million being lodged for the player, the Premier League side will not entertain any offers for him.
Neymar, who left Barcelona for PSG himself this summer, revealed after Brazil's 2-0 win over Ecuador that Coutinho is not especially happy.
"I'm very happy because he has scored a goal and at this moment he is filled with great sadness," said the forward of his team-mate, who netted in the game, per Mundo Deportivo (h/t Football Espana). "He really helped us in the victory—he is a great player, who is very important to us."
The Liverpool man came off the bench in the game against Ecuador and netted a brilliant goal following smart linkup with Gabriel Jesus.
Any "sadness" from Coutinho has likely stemmed from the fact he has to remain at Liverpool this summer. The 25-year-old handed in a transfer request earlier this month, and as noted by Aarons, Barcelona have already seen three bids rejected for him.
As noted by Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports, while Coutinho has missed the start of the Premier League season with a back problem, he looked in fine shape for the Selecao:
Barring a dramatic turn of events, Coutinho looks unlikely to be getting his dream move to the Camp Nou and is set to spend another season at Anfield at least.
Manager Jurgen Klopp will now be tasked with getting the midfielder focused again following this summer's transfer saga. Evidently, the player was intent on making the switch, though it was only earlier this year he signed a bumper long-term contract on Merseyside.
Whether he's sad or not, Liverpool will expect the Brazilian to honour such a deal. And once Coutinho is back at the club and back into the groove, you sense he will be in the team quickly.
Kristian Walsh of the Liverpool Echo noted the midfielder may be ready to focus on football once again after ending his social media hiatus:
There will be some ill feeling from the Reds fanbase towards their player, as no set of supporters enjoy seeing a star seek to force a move out of the club. But if Coutinho starts turning in excellent performances for Liverpool, any misdemeanours will be quickly forgotten.
After all, in 2013, Luis Suarez demanded to leave Liverpool during an interview with The Guardian's Sid Lowe.
The forward went on to have the campaign of his life at Anfield, pushing the Reds to within tantalising distance of a Premier League title and leaving for Barcelona the following summer with the well wishes of everyone at Anfield. It wouldn't be a huge sh
No comments:
Post a Comment