Modern Masters - Philippe Coutinho

Born in Brazil, Coutinho was ear marked as a prodigious talent from a very young age.

He moved to the cool climes of the European continent at a very early stage of his career, leaving behind the beautiful beaches of South America.

Although Coutinho was one of the best players with Inter Milan, the team never fulfilled his wishes. Inter were going through a rebuilding phase and the lack of ambition and titles and the slowness of the whole process left the Brazilian magician searching for other options.

When the Kop came calling, it was too difficult to resist and Coutinho was a Red in the early part of 2013. With Liverpool, Coutinho enjoyed the best phase of his career, a phase that catapulted him into the very best in the game. He blossomed into one of the best attacking midifielders and playmakers in football and was soon a target for all the big clubs.

After playing with the likes of Ibrahimovic, Milito, Zanetti at Inter, Coutinho also got a chance to share the dressing room with legends like Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez at Liverpool before the moves for Firmino, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane. Although with Inter Coutinho never won much, at Liverpool he came close to a famous League title ondly to be thwarted at the end. 

With the departures of Suarez and Gerrard, Liverpool underwent a rebuild and gured coach Jurgen Klopp to take them forward. Klopp gave Coutinho a free role and his band of merry midfielders took the league and the game by storm. The free flowing game once seen at Borussia Dortmund was now on full display even at Anfield and it looked like the Reds would easily be back to the top.

But once more, defensive frailties and mismanagement left Coutinho wanting. As Barcelona came calling, Coutinho packed his bags and handed in a transfer request to complete the switch every player from the South American continent dreams of and joined the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and take his game to the next level.

Brilliant with the ball and without it, Coutinho is equally adept with his left and right foot. He can shoot from range at shocking regularity and is easily one of the best dribblers in the game today. Any team Coutinho plays for, becomes better and he truly is one of the modern Masters of our game.