Philippe Coutinho is happy at Liverpool, wants to win PL and CL, says former coach Rodney Goncalves
Liverpool's Coutinho is a rumored target for La Liga winners Barcelona.
Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho is happy at Anfield and wants to continue with the Reds in order to achieve his "biggest challenge" of winning the Premier League and Champions League, according to his former coach Rodney Goncalves.
The Brazil international came up through the ranks of Vasco da Gama and then moved to Inter Milan in 2008. Goncalves was his youth team coach and despite the playmaker moving to different clubs, the 24-year-old and his former coach still communicate with each other.
Coutinho has been a star player for the Merseyside club since joining them from Inter in January 2013. Under Jurgen Klopp's guidance, he has established himself as a key player in Liverpool's attack along with his compatriot Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
According to the Daily Mail, his form saw him attract interest from Barcelona, who have made Coutinho as their priority transfer target. However, Goncalves has ruled out the possibility of a move and suggested that Brazilian star will continue at Liverpool.
"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. His ambition is to be in the list of the top 10 players [in the world]."
Coutinho's club form has seen him be a regular with the national side. Goncalves also went on to claim that Liverpool star playing alongside Neymar will benefit Brazil in their bid to win silverware.
"Coutinho can be compared to Neymar, but Coutinho is Coutinho. 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," he added.
"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."
"The Brazil squad needed to renew itself after the World Cup and everybody expected that he would be selected. Now he is, and this moment is very special."
"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," he said.
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