Emmanuel Petit believes that Philippe Coutinho regrets his decision to join Barcelona, but has dismissed the idea of him returning to Liverpool.
As noted by BBC Sport, the Catalan giants splashed out £142m to sign the Brazilian international in 2018, as he was expected to become a fundamental figure for them.
However, things haven’t worked out as planned as he’s found himself out on loan at Bayern Munich this season, with question marks hanging over his long-term future at the Nou Camp.
Petit was in a similar position when he left Arsenal for Barcelona, and so he not only believes that Coutinho regrets the decision to leave the Reds for Barca, but he also is convinced that like him, there will be no return to his former club for the 27-year-old.
“If I was Philippe Coutinho, every morning I would wake up and think to myself, ‘Why, why, did I sign [for Barcelona] in Spain?'” he told the Mirror. “And do you know why I say this? Because, I can remember the time when I’d wake up, when I was at Barcelona, when I left Arsenal, and I was thinking the same way, ‘Why did I leave? Why did I leave? Why did I leave?'”
“And to be honest with you I am sure Coutinho has been asking himself the same question for a while now. He left for Bayern Munich, he does sometimes play well but he’s not really a first-team player.”
Petit went on to insist that he would love to see Coutinho back in the Premier League, but he is adamant that he will not return to Liverpool as not only has the club moved on, but he believes that Coutinho will have had his reasons for leaving and so it wouldn’t make sense to go back.
“He won’t go back to Liverpool. When I was at Barcelona, they wanted me back at Arsenal, and it was tempting – I was close to returning to Arsenal.
“But at the end of the day, I was thinking ‘Emmanuel, you need to be honest with yourself. If you left a year ago it was for a reason.’
“If Coutinho is honest with himself, since he left Liverpool they have won the Champions League and they’re on the way to winning the Premier League. Liverpool haven’t needed him, so why would he go back to Liverpool?”
Time will tell how Coutinho’s future plays out this summer and if he is on the move again, but for now there are certainly doubts over whether or not he’ll have another chance with Barcelona, or if his loan exit is ultimately the start of the process which sees him move on for good.