Diego Cavalieri

Ahead of the visit by Liverpool during the weekend, Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has praised Liverpool’s January signing Philippe Coutinho by saying that he is magical. Liverpool managed to secure the signing of the South American ahead of Southampton, who were also interested. Coutinho arrived at Liverpool in an £ 8 million deal from Inter Milan. Southampton were considered as one of the favourites to land this South American due to the fact that their manager Pochettino had already worked with the player at Espanyol last season.

However, the Brazilian decided to choose the riches on offer at Anfield rather than the Premier league strugglers. Pochettino has compared Coutinho with the likes of Ronaldinho and Messi by saying that the player clearly has magic at his feet. Despite being extremely talented, Coutinho struggled at the San Siro due to the Italian team not taking advantage of his strengths. The attacking midfielder is one of the most dangerous in the world, but he was also given the job of defending at Inter Milan.

Further, he was not blessed with the physicality that Inter Milan were looking in the team that they are currently assembling. Coutinho is expected to play a huge role for Liverpool when they take on Southampton at the St Mary’s stadium during the weekend.

“As with most Brazilians, Philippe has a special magic in his feet. Aside from the magic that he has, he also has an amazing work rate and that makes us doubt whether he fits the mould of a typical Brazilian player or a European one because his work ethic is outstanding. What is important about him is he is a good kid – a great, humble person. I do think Coutinho has that same quality that Ronaldinho and Messi have, but he has much to prove yet,” said the Southampton manager.