FC Barcelona shelled out a club record 160 million euros (£143.7 million) to prise Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, yet one year on from his signing, the Brazilian is struggling. Coutinho, the third most expensive player in the world behind Neymar of Paris St Germain and Kylian Mbappe, made a flying start to his FC Barcelona career. “The coach is pro-Barca, he wants the team to win.”Valverde’s recent team selections, however, may offer a clue to his thinking. There was no place for Coutinho when Valverde fielded an unorthodox 3-5-2 formation in the recent 5-0 hammering of Levante. With Liverpool sitting four points clear at the top of the English Premier League, Coutinho may be having some thinking.

Source: Punch January 04, 2019 18:22 UTC