If things had worked out differently, Philippe Coutinho would be managed by Pep Guardiola instead of Jurgen Klopp right now.
As reported by ESPN Brasil on Friday, Manchester City attempted to sign the Brazilian long before Liverpool made a move for him.
It happened before Coutinho’s move from Vasco to Inter Milan in 2010. Manchester City scouts have recommended him to the club, and contacts for a transfer were made.
However, Manchester City weren’t the pull then that they are now, and couldn’t compete with other interested sides including Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Vasco sold Coutinho to Inter Milan for only €3.8m. The player couldn’t make much impact in Italy, and was even loaned to Espanyol for a season.
In the meantime, ESPN claims that the same Manchester City scouts started working for Liverpool. As they continued to follow the player, the scouting reports were sent to Anfield.
That’s why in January 2013, Coutinho was signed by Liverpool for €13m.
ESPN say Vasco still hope they can make more money, via the solidarity mechanism, in 2017 should Coutinho’s move somewhere else. Maybe they should tell Liverpool that, because Klopp seems to have no intention of letting the player go.
