Players - Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho
Birthdate: 12 June 1992
Birthplace: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Other clubs: Vasco da Gama (2009-10), Inter Milan (2010-13), Espanyol (loan 2012), Barcelona (2018-22), Bayern Munich (loan 2019-20), Aston Villa (loan 2022), Aston Villa (2022-), Al Duhail (loan 2023-)
Signed from: Inter Milan
Signed for LFC: £8.5m, 30.01.2013
International debut: 07.10.2010 vs. Iran
International caps: 68/20 (31/8 at LFC) - 02.06.2022
Liverpool debut: 11.02.2013
Last appearance: 30.12.2017
Debut goal: 17.02.2013
Last goal: 26.12.2017
Contract expiry: 08.01.2018
Win ratio: 50.75% W:102 D:55 L:44
Games/goals ratio: 3.72
Games/assists ratio: 4.67
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 4 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 152 / 41 / 35
Total games / goals / assists: 201 / 54 / 43

Player Profile

Philippe Coutinho became the fifth player of Brazilian birth to sign for Liverpool Football Club when he finalised a contract described as long-term on the penultimate day of the January 2013 transfer-window. Unlike Daniel Sturridge, whose arrival in the same window had been rumoured for some time, midfielder Coutinho’s signing was more of a surprise as he was still only in the early stages of his professional career with barely a century of first-team matches behind him for three different clubs prior to his arrival in England. Coutinho was born in Brazil’s second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro, and joined the youth system of one of that city’s most prominent clubs, Vasco da Gama. His potential was quickly spotted and Italian club Internazionale made a successful bid for him in 2008 when Coutinho was still only 16 years old. Inter did, however, allow him to remain with Vasco until he had passed his eighteenth birthday in the middle of 2010, at which point he relocated to Europe. The youngster’s arrival in Italy coincided with that of Rafael Benítez, who was appointed to Inter Milan’s head coach. Both Benítez and Inter’s long-standing president, Massimo Moratti, were enthusiastic about Coutinho joining their club but a quotation attributed to them that “Coutinho is the future of Inter” possibly placed unnecessary and unfair pressure on the teenager. Initially, things went reasonably well for the young Brazilian and he made his debut for the European champions as a second-half substitute for Wesley Sneijder during the Super Cup final against Europa League winners Atletico Madrid in Monaco. Inter were in the end comfortably defeated by the Spanish club. 

Coutinho only appeared in eleven of Inter’s 38 Serie A matches in 2010/11 as the Nerazzurri finished runners-up to their city rivals AC Milan, and he had only played in a handful of matches by the halfway point of the following season when his career changed direction with a loan move to Espanyol in Spain. The change of scenery worked well for him as he scored five times in 16 La Liga matches in helping the Barcelona club to move clear of the threat of relegation. At the end of a fairly successful loan-spell, Coutinho returned to Italy but again had difficulty holding down a regular place in Inter’s first team even though he had represented his country at the South American Under-17 championships in Chile in 2009 before making his first appearance for Brazil’s senior team against Iran the following year.

Coutinho took over the number ten shirt vacated by Joe Cole and Brendan Rodgers was excited at his arrival, saying: "I love players who can make the difference at the top end. I've known about him since he was 15 years of age and watched him come through for Brazil. It was a real coup for us because Inter Milan didn't want to sell him, but when we thought he could become available we did everything we could to get him in. Thankfully he's chosen to come to Liverpool. He's a wonderful talent and a great technician, he's got pace, strength and power. He's flexible - he can play in midfield or off the sides. He's a really exciting player and another great product to come into the league. I'm really looking forward to developing him and seeing him work. I got a good insight into him last year when he was at Espanyol, he's a real talent and a good, young, exciting player - but also a real good professional and that's key as well." 

Even though he did not arrive in England until the end of January, Phillippe Coutinho was one of the big successes of the 2012/13 season. The Brazilian settled into English life ... and the Liverpool team ... almost effortlessly, scoring in the first match in which he started (against Swansea in mid-February) and then adding further goals against Southampton and Queens Park Rangers. He was also responsible for creating several other goals, most notably the two he laid on for Stewart Downing and Luis Suarez at Wigan in March, a quite brilliant pass to enable Jordan Henderson to equalise at Villa Park later in the same month, two more assists in the 6-0 thrashing of Newcastle in April and a perfect pass to lay on Daniel Sturridge's hat-trick goal at Fulham in the penultimate match of the season in May.

The tricky Brazilian appeared in 86% of Liverpool's competitive matches in 2013/14 and scored five goals, the most crucial of which was a late winner against Manchester City at Anfield that kept the club's hopes of finishing first alive. He often did not play the full ninety minutes and could on occasions drift out of games, but most of the time he had a massive impact and his name was sung with gusto by fans. It was surprising to Reds therefore that he was omitted from Brazil's World Cup squad for that summer's tournament which was taking place on home soil. Coutinho had an excellent season in 2014/15, missing only three Premier League matches and also appearing in seventeen cup-ties. He enhanced his reputation as a scorer of exceptional goals with his strikes against Southampton and Manchester City in the League and against Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa in the Cup. In January he signed a new five-year contract and when it became apparent that Liverpool would not qualify for the Champions League, he brushed off any questions over the possibility of him leaving. He was deservedly a multi-prize winner at the club's end-of-season awards evening and his club form was rewarded with a call up to the national squad for the Copa America. 

In 2015/16 Coutinho was outstanding, scoring twelve goals in all competitions. They included a stunning strike from outside the box at Stoke City in the opening game, the equaliser in the League Cup final and a brilliant solo goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the last sixteen of the Champions League. He won four end of season awards and was called up by Brazil or the Copa America which was held in the USA. Coutinho was the club's star performer in 2016-17, scoring thirteen goals in 31 games. He opened the campaign with a stunning free-kick at Arsenal and finished it with one at Anfield that helped secure the Reds a place in the Champions League qualifying round. In January 2017 he signed a five-year deal reported at £150,000 a week, but on 11th August, while still recovering from a back injury, he stunned the club by submitting a transfer request, hours after a statement was released saying he would not be leaving that transfer window. Coutinho had scored seven goals in his last eight appearances when the unavoidable happened in January 2018; he finally got his biggest wish fulfilled when Liverpool agreed to his move to Barcelona as he was determined not to appear for the Reds again once the transfer window opened mid-season. The payment Barcelona has to pay up front is believed to be around £106m with a further £36m in various add-ons. According to the Daily Mail that got exclusive access to the Brazilian in his final days at the club, Liverpool earns a further £17.7m once Coutinho has played 100 games, plus smaller payments of £4.4m for each of the first two Champions Leagues he qualifies for and the first two European titles he wins.

Coutinho became the second most expensive player in the world, only overshadowed by his compatriot Neymar. He started well in Spain, scoring twelve goals in twenty appearances, but after picking up an injury in the autumn he lost some rhythm and during the January 2019 transfer window there was media speculation that he may be returning to the Premiership, with Manchester United a possible destination. He remained at the Nou Camp, scoring against United in the Champions League quarter-final, but the arrival of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid in July intensified speculation that his days at the club were numbered. On 19 August, a season-long loan deal was agreed with Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga title and Champions League. In the semi final of the Champions League, he came off the bench to score two late goals as Bayern humiliated his parent club 8-2. He then played 22 minutes as a substitute of the final against Paris St Germain. With Barcelona appointing Ronald Koeman as manager for 2020/21, Coutinho was given a opportunity to prove his worth to the Catalan giants. However he was ruled out for the second half of the season with cartilage trouble. Early in 2021/22 Xavi replaced Koeman as manager and just five of his sixteen appearances in the first half of the season being starts.

In January 2022 he moved to Aston Villa on loan, teaming up with Steven Gerrard again who was by now Villa manager. The loan agreement had an option to buy and in May 2022 , following four goals and eight assists, Villa announced that they would be activating this. They paid Barcelona £17 million for his services with Gerrard saying Phil is a model professional and his impact on the group has been very clear since he joined in January. With the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch, he's also a valuable role model for our younger players who can only benefit from his experience". Things did not go to plan however, with Gerrard being sacked in October and from February onwards, Coutinho was included in just one of the last fourteen matchday squads by new boss Unai Emery. A loan deal was agreed with Dubai side Al Duhail for 2023/24. 

Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 152 13 12 24 0 201
2012-2013 13 0 0 0 0 13
2013-2014 33 3 1 0 0 37
2014-2015 35 7 4 6 0 52
2015-2016 26 1 3 13 0 43
2016-2017 31 2 3 0 0 36
2017-2018 14 0 1 5 0 20
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
12 1022 Chelsea
11 851 Southampton
10 757 Swansea City
9 724 Arsenal
9 714 Tottenham
9 661 Manchester United
9 610 Everton
8 632 Aston Villa
8 598 West Ham United
8 590 WBA
8 569 Crystal Palace
7 568 Manchester City
7 498 Leicester City
7 487 Stoke City
6 397 Hull City
6 395 Newcastle United
5 392 Burnley
5 390 Bournemouth
5 374 Sunderland
4 250 Watford
3 269 Fulham
3 256 Norwich City
3 188 QPR
3 167 Sevilla
2 180 Borussia Dortmund
2 180 Spartak Moscow
2 180 Bolton Wanderers
2 180 Blackburn Rovers
2 169 Augsburg
2 151 Cardiff City
2 128 Villarreal
2 86 Basel
2 83 Real Madrid
2 59 Sion
1 90 Bordeaux
1 90 Reading
1 90 AFC Wimbledon
1 90 NK Maribor
1 90 Middlesbrough
1 90 Brighton & Hove Albion
1 71 Wigan Athletic
1 68 Ludogorets
1 65 Plymouth Argyle
1 63 Rubin
1 63 Besiktas
1 62 Derby
1 56 Carlisle United
1 49 Notts County
1 45 Wolves
1 44 Oldham Athletic
Total Started/substitutions
176 Started
9 On the bench
25 Substitute
92 Substituted
Total Venue
102 Home
99 Away
Total Competition
152 Premier League
14 Europa League
13 FA Cup
12 League Cup
10 Champions League
Total W D L Win % Manager
112 61 26 25 54.5% Brendan Rodgers
89 41 29 19 46.1% Jürgen Klopp
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 41 4 2 7 0 54
2012-2013 3 0 0 0 0 3
2013-2014 5 0 0 0 0 5
2014-2015 5 3 0 0 0 8
2015-2016 8 1 1 2 0 12
2016-2017 13 0 1 0 0 14
2017-2018 7 0 0 5 0 12
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 11.02.2013 WBA Anfield League
50 11.05.2014 Newcastle United Anfield League
100 10.05.2015 Chelsea Stamford Bridge League
150 16.09.2016 Chelsea Stamford Bridge League
200 26.12.2017 Swansea City Anfield League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 46 17.02.2013 Swansea City Anfield League
50 15 06.12.2017 Spartak Moscow Anfield Europe
Related Articles
Liverpool's Latin Americans

Declan Sloan has put together a complete record of every South American player to wear the famous Red Jersey, from Mauricio Pellegrino in 2005 to newly recruited Roberto Firmino.

Coutinho making big difference to Liverpool's double thrust

Paul Wilson in The Observer on 15 February 2014.

How Brendan Rodgers has turned Liverpool’s league fortunes around

By Tony Barrett for the Times on 10 February 2014.

Related Quotes

I love Coutinho. He is outstanding and has unbelievable ability. He’s better than I ever was and I really mean that. He’s miles better than me. If he stays here for a long time he’s got a chance of being as big as Kenny – that kind of stature. I look at his ability and I think he could be the new Kenny Dalglish. He is a very special player. He has such a great understanding of the game. Good players like that know when to get rid of the ball. On the odd occasion he gets caught but not often. He’s very clever – he’s always aware of where his team-mates are and how they want the ball. Some of his passing takes your breath away and he has a great attitude as well. It was a smart signing by Brendan. I don’t think anyone saw it coming and he was a real bargain.

Peter Beardsley on Coutinho in August 2013

"He was just 18 when he arrived at the club from Vasco. Then came Beniíez and the expectations were very high. Rafa used him on the flanks in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He was not playing much and we lacked patience so we decided to sell him. I would like young players to grow and succeed here; when I seen them play for other clubs, it makes me sad."

Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio on Philippe Coutinho on Sky Italia in April 2015

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Vasco da Gama 2009 Brasileirão 12 0 12 0
Vasco da Gama 2010 Brasileirão 7 1 31 5
Inter Milan 2010-2011 Serie A Italy 13 1 20 1
Inter Milan 2011-2012 Serie A Italy 5 1 8 1
Espanyol 2011-2012 La Liga, Spain 16 5 16 5
Inter Milan 2012-2013 Serie A Italy 10 1 19 3
Barcelona 2017-2018 Spain 1 14 7 20 12
Barcelona 2018-2019 Spain 1 34 5 54 11
Bayern Munich 2019-2020 Germany 1 23 8 38 11
Barcelona 2020-2021 Spain 1 12 2 14 3
Barcelona 2021-2022 Spain 1 12 2 16 2
Aston Villa 2021-2022 Premier League 19 5 19 5
Aston Villa 2022-2023 Premier League 20 1 22 1
Total 197 39 289 60