Barcelona’s director responds to Philippe Coutinho’s rumours

Barcelona director Guillermo Amor has claimed that Philippe Coutinho will stay at Catalonia despite the exit rumours. 

Barcelona director Guillermo Amor has publicly claimed that Philippe Coutinho is one of the important players in the squad, and there is no chance of luring him away from Nou Camp right now.

Currently, the Brazilian is going through a tough spell after failing to start the last five La Liga games in a row. He is behind Arturo Vidal and Ousmane Dembele in the pecking order.

There have been several rumours linking him away from Barcelona, and the stories were tumbling that he could join Liverpool’s arch-rivals Manchester United for a fee of 100 million in the January transfer window. 

But, those stories were put to bed after Barcelona’s director Amor confirmed that the Brazilian won’t be prised away from the La Liga outfit.

“Coutinho’s a player with a lot of experience, one of the best players in Europe and he is ready to play [for] five minutes or 90 minutes,” Amor said during an interview with Movistar.

“He’s a player that thinks more about the team than himself and there are no doubts about him being one of the best players in the world. He’s always played well for Barca, he could play [every game] from the off.

“Barca signed him because he’s one of the best in the world and he’s going to give us a lot. He’s got many years left on his contract and a lot to give to Barcelona.”

There is no doubt about the quality possessed by the former Liverpool midfielder who had a fantastic start to his Barcelona career by netting 10 goals and registering another six assists in his bag the last term.

He was supposedly being called as the heir to Andres Iniesta who was predominantly a number 8 more than an attacking midfielder. However, it is understandable that the Brazilian is struggling in the current system as they have the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Artur Melo, and Arturo Vidal who can excel as a number eight.

On the other side, the 26-year-old is not a wide winger like Ousmane Dembele, but he is capable of interlinking with the striker and makes plenty of runs through the left flank. If Barcelona had bought him as a wide winger or a number eight, there is no doubt that Ernesto Valverde has gambled on the Brazilian who was the best player at Liverpool before his departure in last January.

A player of Philippe Coutinho’s caliber is too good to warm the bench. However, he might have a change of fortunes as the Barcelona manager has not extended his contract with the Spanish club.