Philippe Coutinho is happy at Liverpool and wants to win the Premier League and Champions League with the club, according to Rodney Goncalves, the Brazil international’s former youth coach at Vasco da Gama.
Coutinho, 24, has made a flying start to the season for the Reds, scoring five goals and setting up five for teammates in his first 11 appearances, and that form has seen Barcelona linked. But Goncalves insists a move is not on the agenda for Coutinho.
“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,” Goncalves told the Telegraph.
“He knows that if he continues to give great performances for Liverpool, he will always be selected for Brazil.”
Coutinho has been in form for Brazil too, scoring five goals in 10 appearances for the Selecao during 2016, including a strike in the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win against Argentina.
But Goncalves believes comparisons to Neymar are unfair and thinks Coutinho can become an equally important player in his own right.
“Coutinho can be compared to Neymar, but Coutinho is Coutinho,” he said. “He can become a 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.”
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