Enormous praise showered on Coutinho from one of the world’s very best footballers…
Barcelona’s Neymar, the pride of Brazil and one of the world’s best footballers, reckons his international teammate and old friend Coutinho could become the best player in the Premier League, reports the Mirror.
The pair have grown up in various Brazilian youth set-ups together, and the comments are the latest in a long line of plaudits for Coutinho following his FA Cup winning goal versus Bolton.
22-year-old playmaker Coutinho has won consecutive Player of the Month awards at Anfield and could feasibly earn a third for January, and is comfortably one of the first names on Brendan Rodgers’ team-sheet when he couldn’t always get into the side earlier in the campaign…
“He can be the star player in England. This season I think everybody in England is seeing how talented he is – and I know he has a lot more to show,” Neymar, the Brazilian megastar who turned 23 yesterday, began…
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“We have been good friends since we were 16. Not only is he a fantastic player, he is a good guy to have in the dressing room, always positive and making jokes.”
“I think since Luis joined us at Barcelona, Liverpool have not had that one player they can look to for that special moment,” said Neymar.
“Couto can be that player for them I’m sure. When he has the ball at his feet, he can make things happen for himself and he can make things happen for other players. He is a very special player.”
“He will play a big part in the future of the national team,” he said. “The national steam is very strong, but the way he is playing for Liverpool, I’m sure he will be a big part of Brazil going forward.”
Following Brazil’s World Cup humiliation, new coach Dunga called Coutinho into the squad, and he’s now won five caps in total. This pales into insignificance next to Neymar’s 60 caps and 42 goals – but if our Little Magician can have half the international and domestic success of the Barca ace, he’ll end up happy.