Another day, and another copy of Catalan newspaper Sport which has Philippe Coutinho on the front cover. The Liverpool player is a favourite for Sport and they keep pushing a possible transfer forward.
Coutinho has had the most Sport transfer front covers so far this year, with 5 coming in May, and still time for another after this. Sport’s reasoning this time is that they’ve spoken to Brazil manager Tite.
Sending someone to interview the Brazil boss in Rio, Sport asked him several questions about Coutinho. Tite was happy to speak, at length, about one of his players and a potential move to another club.
It’s curious, and one would assume he must know Coutinho wouldn’t be angry about it.
On where the Liverpool player could operate for Barcelona, Tite said: “I’m always talking hypothetically, make that clear. There’s Sergio and the two creatives, what in Italy they call ‘mezzalas’, that are Rakitic and Iniesta, the two thinkers of the team. Coutinho can play in that role. He is an ideal player for Barca.”
Asked about the possibility of putting Neymar and Coutinho together at club level, Tite 
said: “Yes. Absolutely. I don’t want to have the audacity to comment on Barça, but who doesn’t want a player like Coutinho with that magic, with that capacity for invention and creation, change of pace, game building…”
Coutinho to Barcelona seems to have Catalan backing, and with Neymar and Tite it also has Brazilian backing, but, very importantly, it doesn’t have Liverpool backing.
Jurgen Klopp will no doubt be at least slightly irritated by a national manager talking up a move for one of Liverpool’s star players.
