Philippe Coutinho spent five years at Liverpool and during his time at the Merseyside club, he established himself as one of the stars in the Premier League.
The 29-year-old’s impressive performances for Liverpool attracted Barcelona’s attention and they were successful in signing the Brazil international in January 2019.
Although the attacking midfielder has won two league titles in Spain since then, he has struggled at the Camp Nou.
The South American spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Bayern Munich, where he won the treble. On his return to Barca, Coutinho made a handful of appearances before an injury forced to spend most of 2021 on the sidelines.
In order to regain his best form, he joined Aston Villa on a loan deal at the start of this year, which has worked out, since Coutinho has four goals and three assists from 10 league appearances playing under Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.
He said: “Perhaps ‘stronger than before’ fits right here. You can’t play in England without being physically fit.”
“I have a beautiful story at Liverpool, I was happy there, now I’m starting to write a story at Aston Villa. I’m happy that once again I’m able to play well in England, as I’ve played in Italy, Spain and Germany.”
“It’s hard to say what didn’t work [at Barca], maybe some points from what you mentioned [injuries]. I had good times there, but the sequence and the way of acting were factors that could have been different.”
“It was time to move forward, always with great respect and professionalism. I am grateful to Barcelona for believing in my work and grateful for having defended a club with a history built.”
