Why Leicester City should keep their eyes off Philippe Coutinho
According to Spanish outlet Sport (h/t The Express), Leicester City have registered their interest in signing Philippe Coutinho, who currently plies his trade with Bayern Munich from Barcelona.
Coutinho, 27, came through the ranks of Vasco da Gama’s youth system and moved to Inter Milan in 2010. After struggling for game time in Italy, he was signed by Liverpool in 2013. He established himself as one of the best playmakers in the Premier League with the Reds before joining Barcelona.
However, he was deemed surplus to requirements at Camp Nou and struggled to find form and regular game time. As a result, Coutinho moved to Bayern Munich on loan last summer but has not been at his best since leaving Anfield.
Meanwhile, Leicester City have enjoyed a brilliant campaign under Brendan Rodgers as they are currently 3rd in the league standings. The Foxes are flying high on the success of talisman Jamie Vardy, who has 17 goals so far and is the league’s top scorer.
The attacking unit under Rodgers has been brilliant as they have managed to score a whopping 58 goals with the likes of Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet also playing a supportive role.
Rodgers has managed to find the right combination to his attacking system and attacking midfielder Maddison has been the core of their creativity. The English international already has 9 goals and 3 assists to his name across all competitions and looks to be the future of Leicester City, given they don’t trade him to a bigger club.
Barnes, Tielemans and Ayoze Perez, who have also played a bigger part in the Foxes success so far, have a combined total of 16 goals and 15 assists between them. And Leicester’s attacking unit has been far better than many of the big-name clubs. Therefore, signing Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho at this moment would make no sense for them.
The 28-year-old has not been at his best and his performances in the last two seasons have stooped low, struggling to find a place in the starting XI.
The Foxes look to be a well-built team and shaking up the squad for a player who has been featuring in bit-part roles for the past two seasons would not be helpful for the team. Given they have a young English talent for the same position, it would be utterly non-sensical of the Foxes to sign Coutinho.
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Verdict
Leicester’s core players are young and have a huge future ahead and at the same time, they also have able backups. Youngster Bartosz Kapustka, who was out of action for a long time, is also available in the attacking midfield position.
Therefore, the Foxes should avoid a move for Coutinho in the summer as the squad is well and truly balanced.
