Brazil’s legendary defender, Lucio, has encouraged Liverpool starlet Philippe Coutinho to forget about reported interest from Barcelona and stay at Anfield.

As reported by Nicholas Godden of the MailOnline, Sport previously claimed the Brazil international midfielder was a January target for the European champions. Even so, Lucio, who won the World Cup with the Selecao in 2002, doesn’t necessarily think it’d be the correct move for him, per Naveen Ullal of IB Times UK:

If it was my decision, I would stay. If I was Coutinho, I would not leave Liverpool. Barcelona have several star players like Messi, Suarez and Neymar. If Coutinho joins Barcelona, he has to play wherever the coach wants him to play, which would be to fill in here and there.”

In the last season, Coutinho was the standout player for Liverpool. He can continue there and can go on to become a very big player for them. Regarding his future, it is a decision only Coutinho could take, but as a friend I would suggest him to stay at Liverpool.

Although Lucio cited the attacking prowess of players such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar as a reason for not joining Barcelona, there’s no reason as to why Coutinho couldn’t potentially operate alongside the trio.

Stylistically, the Brazilian looks to have all the qualities to be a long-term successor to Andres Iniesta. While Coutinho is way short of the levels currently being shown by the Spanish international icon, like Iniesta he possesses the quick feet, positional awareness and an eye for a killer pass, which are so crucial when playing at the heart of a Barcelona team.

After a storming 2014-15 season, when Coutinho was named Liverpool’s Player of the Year, things haven’t gone quite so well for the 23-year-old in the early stages of this campaign, per Squawka Football:

You suspect this blip will be temporary. The Brazilian starlet has an array of qualities that have been on show throughout his Liverpool career. Under the tutelage of new manager Jurgen Klopp he will surely preserve a key role in this Reds setup.

Still, it may take a little time for the former Inter Milan man to appropriately adapt to life under the German. Let’s not forget, for all the criticism he has received since being axed by the club, former manager Brendan Rodgers plucked Coutinho from the San Siro wilderness in 2013, channeled his mercurial talent and got the best out of him.

As Jack Lusby wrote in a recent column for Bleacher Report, there are a lot of new duties the Reds starlet will have to take on board under the new regime:

A January sale is an unlikely proposition, but for the player, if Barcelona do come calling it’d only be natural for his head to be turned. Liverpool have set a concerning precedent for letting their important players leave the club in recent campaigns, which is something the Blaugrana will surely consider if they are plotting to sign the Brazilian.

Klopp will have big plans for Coutinho. There may be a rough period of transition as the playmaker seeks to amalgamate a new demand for industry with his patented intricacy. But once the intertwining of those traits becomes second nature, Coutinho will be a much more rounded footballer; worryingly, it’s a positive process likely to keep Barcelona interested in landing him too.

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