Exclusive: If we don't move for Coutinho, two of our PL rivals might, says ex-Red 🤷‍♂️

Would we regret seeing the Barcelona star go to one of our rivals?

Moving for a player simply because your domestic rivals are possibly interested is basically on a par with a child in reception demanding a discarded toy back after another kid picks it up.

In this case, the toy was forcibly removed beyond the owner’s wishes but we’ve since moved on to bigger and better things.

Quite literally so, given that the funds accumulated from parting ways with Philippe Coutinho allowed Liverpool to pursue moves for Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker - two signings that utterly changed the game for Jurgen Klopp’s men both in the Premier League and in Europe.

As things stand, the Reds have most definitely won the game of the exes by an absolute landslide, even after taking into account our injury-enforced fall from grace last season.

The emotional wounds have healed, yet we could be tempted into a return for the 29-year-old playmaker if our Premier League rivals begin sniffing around.

“If Coutinho doesn’t re-sign for Liverpool – but we should consider it, he’d be a great option for us – then I believe Leicester City would be a good choice for him because Brendan Rodgers knows him very well,” former Liverpool fullback Jose Enrique told Empire of the Kop.

“Leicester have James Maddison, who is also very good in the same role, but Brendan would definitely have him.

“Arsenal could be another option, but the problem is with Barcelona – they have him on a massive salary and they’re pretty much going to have to pay him to go.

“I’m not sure if Martin Odegaard is going to stay with Real Madrid or go to Arsenal, but if he stays with Madrid, Coutinho could be an option for Arsenal because of the way Mikel Arteta plays.

“They’re not doing well at the moment, but Arsenal are a big club and it would be a good move for Philippe.”

If the recruitment team does decide that a reunion with the Brazilian is worthwhile, however, it won’t be because Arsenal and Leicester City happen to think the midfielder could still have something to offer in the English top-flight.

Nonetheless, our former left-back is on the money to suggest that Coutinho would be a great bit of business for either side.

Despite his ill-fated move to La Liga, the midfielder established himself as a world-class talent worthy of a switch to one of Europe's heavyweights in the Premier League.

As prior loan spells have suggested, there’s still a quality player there to be utilised for the club willing to take a punt.

There are two years remaining on his contract in Catalonia, though with his value having since plummeted - aided in no small part by a season-ending injury - there’s a feeling that he could be secured for an absolute bargain fee.

The move hasn’t worked out for both the player and club, with the latter likely more than keen to get the former Liverpool star off the wage bill and just forget the whole thing ever happened.

On our end, however, he’s just not the kind of player we can imagine Jurgen Klopp looking at and thinking ‘there’s my Wijnaldum replacement’.

If we’d already secured a new midfielder and attacker and had some extra funds lying about, it’s a move we certainly should at least consider, as Enrique has suggested, to bolster our bench.

It just doesn’t seem like the right time.

If you’re of fan of this kind of content, all completely ad-free, then feel free to hit the subscribe button below and become an EOTK Insider. Dig into exclusive tidbits reserved only for our subscribers!