The Philippe Coutinho that was seen at Liverpool a few seasons ago is nothing but a distant memory.
Ever since signing for Barcelona, the Brazilian has struggled under the weight of expectation, given that he was the Catalan club’s most expensive ever signing.
He has never come close to justifying the €160m that Barca paid out, and even a semi successful loan spell at Bayern Munich failed to earn him a permanent move.
Like so many players signed in the Josep Maria Bartomeu presidency, Coutinho’s salary has hit club finances hard, and it’s no wonder Joan Laporta has been trying to offload the player at every opportunity.
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Recalled to the squad this season as his agent was still unable to engineer a move away, Coutinho has, predictably, done nothing of note.
It’s somewhat bizarre then to hear Glen Johnson suggest to Mirror Sport on behalf of BettingExpert.com that the player “could be – and I told him this, I said to him he could be the best player in the world, like literally the best player in the world.”
A good right-back Johnson may have been, but he clearly hasn’t got a clue where Coutinho is concerned.