From Vasco da Gama's youth system to his days of despair in Italy with Inter Milan, the magician of Liverpool, Phillipe Coutinho has come a long way and now looks to be following the footsteps of his fellow Brazilian, Neymar, to be considered as one of the world's best.
The playmaker stole the limelight with his breathtaking performance from the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Angel Di Maria and other stars in the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina at Belo Horizonte.
There has never been a question mark over the abilities of the 24 years old Brazilian but the only question was whether he could remain consistent with his performances like other World Class players for both the club and the country.
Coutinho's coach at Vasco da Gama, Rodney Goncalves, recently talked about the Brazilian's early days and how much he has developed over the years as a player.
“His ambition is to be in the list of the top 10 players in the world.
"With Neymar and Coutinho playing together again, they are seen as the couple that can give us a lot of titles. They played together in the Brazilian youth teams and were the players who stood out when they played against each other in the youth sides for Vasco da Gama versus Santos.
“Coutinho can be compared to Neymar, but Coutinho is Coutinho. He can become very popular in Brazil and around the world like Neymar, he just needs to get a sequence of games in the Brazilian squad. There is pressure on him but it is not a problem. He plays at a big club and plays in the most important league in the world.”
Coutinho with the plethora of talent he possessed at the early age attracted almost every big club in Europe but Inter got their hands on the 16 years-old Brazilian and he was hailed as future of the Internazionale. But the move didn't turn out as the world had expected.
“The Italian football was different and a difficult way to play,” Goncalves said. “He was young and soft. He needed more time to adapt to the Italian style.
“It was only after Inter Milan when he was loaned to Espanyol he had the chance to develop his skills and understand the new reality of playing at that level of football.”
Liverpool had to fight with Mauricio Pochettino's Southampton to land the Brazilian at Anfield. The Argentine worked with Coutinho in Spain and was too eager to get the player at St. Mary's but Coutinho chose Liverpool as his preference.
The Brazilian is playing a pivotal role in what happens to be the best start to a Premier League season for Liverpool and has outshone Premier League’s best with his accomplishments so far this season.
Coutinho's rise at Liverpool has drawn parallels with Barcelona's talisman Neymar and with his fellow Brazilian urging him to join him at Barcelona, Liverpool should be worried as he still has a lot to offer at Anfield.
But Goncalves has eased the tension of Liverpool supporters, he reiterated: “Whenever we speak he always says that is very happy at Liverpool and his biggest challenge is to win the Premier League and Champions League with Liverpool.
“He knows that if he continues to give great performances for Liverpool, he will always be selected for Brazil.”
Coutinho is unarguably Liverpool's best player but also a shining light of Premier League and with age by his side, the Brazilian can achieve everything that the game has to offer.
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