Former Barcelona superstar Rivaldo insisted that his compatriot Philippe Coutinho is still in good shape.
Barcelona bought Coutinho from Liverpool in January 2018 transfer window for a whopping £142 million. They wanted the Brazilian to replace Andreas Iniesta but things changed. He hadn’t managed to score as frequently as he used when he played for Jurgen Klipp’s side.
“After a season and a half at Barcelona and one more at Bayern Munich without managing to have the same success he had at Liverpool. I believe that this chance Philippe Coutinho now has of continuing his career at Chelsea could be a good option.” Rivaldo said.
“He will move to a big club and to a country and competition he knows well where he had his best years so far, so if that transfer really happens, I’m sure he will have a good chance of seeing things improve for him in the future, after all he has already shined on the Premier League before.” Rivaldo added.
Barcelona loaned Coutinho to Bayern Munich for the 2019/20 season. But the Bundesliga champions will not exercise the purchase of option for the 26-year-old midfielder.
According to reports, Liverpool won’t open to the idea of re-signing Coutinho in the summer. And Rivaldo believes Chelsea would be a fit club for Coutinho.
“Looking at Coutinho’s last few years we can say that he didn’t achieve what was expected of him, but he still has time to recover his best football and with his confidence back he could easily become the same player he was at Liverpool.” Rivaldo said.
“I consider this to be just a not-so good spell for him, but we can’t say that he is playing poorly because it would be a lie, things are simply not running as well as many would expect when he left Liverpool to sign for Barcelona.
“He is still a regular in the Brazillian national team and just hasn’t been lucky enough at Barcelona or Bayern, but perhaps that could change with a new club and I believe this would be a nice opportunity for him to get back to his best football at Chelsea.” Rivaldo added.
