Amid reports that Philippe Coutinho might return to Liverpool, the club’s CEO has issued a “shocking” statement that makes restoring the Brazilian star “almost impossible”.
CEO Peter Moore said that Coutinho’s departure from “Anfield” was “a good thing” for the team.
Coutinho moved to Barcelona in January 2018 for 160 million euros, but he did not provide the desired level with the Catalan team, so it was loaned to Bayern Munich in the following year.
After the 27-year-old left Liverpool, the team managed to reach the Champions League final twice in a row, crowned the continent’s champion last season, just around the corner from restoring the Premier League title absent 30 years ago.
“When Coutinho left, there was a change. Not only in the composition of the team but also in the way he plays football,” Moore said in comments to the British newspaper “Mirror”.
The club’s top executive added: “If you remember, when he left two years ago, there was a complete change in the way we play, and then we barely lost games in the rest of the season.”
But Moore went on: “This is not underestimating my respect for Philip but his style as a player was different. The money came from Barcelona (from the sale of Coutinho) and it helped us to hire Alison Baker (goalkeeper).”
