Barcelona Legend Picks A Team That Would Be ‘Good Option’ For Coutinho To Revive His Form

FC Barcelona legend Rivaldo has said his fellow countryman, Philippe Coutinho, will “get back to his best” if he joins Chelsea this summer.

Coutinho, who has completely failed to live up to the club’s expectations, is currently on loan to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. The Brazilian midfielder was considered as one of the most promising young talents of his generation when he was with Liverpool FC, with whom he had signed a five-year spell. However, Coutinho, who always wanted to play for a big club like Barcelona, opted to move to Spain in January 2018.

Ever since then, his value has taken a major dip and he has not been able to do anything about it since he has not been at his best on the field. Barcelona bought Coutinho from Liverpool for $176 million on a five-year deal but his first full season with the Catalans did not go as planned.

Even though Barca won the La Liga, they suffered defeats in the Champions League semi-final to Coutinho’s former team, Liverpool and Copa del Rey final to Valencia. In the entire season, Coutinho managed to score just 11 goals as he struggled to fit in a team comprising of top players such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Eventually, then-Barca boss Ernesto Valverde was forced to send him off on loan to Bayern. While the German side has an option to sign the midfielder permanently, Coutinho is strongly being linked to the Premier League with the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham chasing him.

Brazil great, Rivaldo believes Stamford Bridge would be a “good option” for Coutinho as he hopes the midfielder return to his best ahead of next Copa America and FIFA World Cup.

“After a season and a half at Barcelona and one more at Bayern Munich without managing to have the same success he had at Liverpool, I believe that this chance Philippe Coutinho now has of continuing his career at Chelsea could be a good option."

“He will move to a big club and to a country and competition he knows well where he had his best years so far, so if that transfer really happens, I'm sure he will have a good chance of seeing things improve for him in the future, after all, he has already shined on the Premier League before,” Rivaldo told Betfair.

“Looking at Coutinho's last few years we can say that he didn't achieve what was expected of him, but he still has time to recover his best football and with his confidence back he could easily become the same player he was at Liverpool. I consider this to be just a not-so-good spell for him, but we can't say that he is playing poorly because it would be a lie, things are simply not running as well as many would expect when he left Liverpool to sign for Barcelona."

“He is still a regular in the Brazilian national team and just hasn't been lucky enough at Barcelona or Bayern, but perhaps that could change with a new club and I believe this would be a nice opportunity for him to get back to his best football at Chelsea," he said.

"Furthermore, next year we'll have Copa America and one year later the World Cup, so it would be important for Coutinho to be playing at a good European club in order not to lose his place in the national team when those big tournaments come around,” Rivaldo, who played for Barca for five years, added.