McManaman Urges Liverpool to Re-sign Coutinho from Barca

TRACKING____Former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman has urged the club to re-sign ‘game-changer’ Philippe Coutinho, two years after selling him to Barcelona for £145million.

Coutinho has failed to make an impact since leaving Anfield, and is currently on loan at Bayern Munich where he has scored seven goals in 26 appearances this season.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are romping to the Premier League title – but McManaman believes they could still do with a player of Coutinho’s ilk.

‘It could be that they opt to bring a certain Philippe Coutinho back to the club,’ he told HorseRacing.net.

‘I wouldn’t mind seeing Coutinho back. He’s a brilliant player but a lot of it is just down to economics. If they can bring Coutinho back for a reasonable fee and potentially sell a couple of players who aren’t playing regularly, then that could work.

‘There are rumours that Xherdan Shaqiri may leave at the end of the season, and Adam Lallana may want to play more often. If there’s space available then I’d certainly like Coutinho back, as he was a wonderful player for Liverpool. He’s that type of player that when plan A isn’t working he can change the game.

‘He scored some incredible goals for Liverpool and though he’d have to win the fans over after he asked to leave, I think that most fans would recognise how good he was for Liverpool.’

Coutinho played 201 times for the Reds, scoring 54 goals in and creating many more.

His performances since leaving England have left a lot to be desired, but at 27 he still has plenty of years left at the top level of the game.