Philippe Coutinho LiverpoolGetty

‘Cut-price Coutinho a no-brainer for Liverpool’ – Barcelona flop wanted back at Anfield by Nicol

Landing Philippe Coutinho in a cut-price deal would be a no-brainer for Liverpool, says Steve Nicol.

The Reds parted with the Brazil international when he completed a big-money move to Barcelona in the January window of 2018.

The switch to Camp Nou was considered to be a dream for the South American playmaker, but it has quickly become a nightmare.

Coutinho has failed to find his spark in Catalunya, leading to him eventually being loaned out to German giants Bayern Munich.

Similar struggles for consistency have been endured with the Bundesliga champions, with Barca now scratching around to find a buyer.

Various landing spots in the Premier League have been mooted, from Tottenham to Newcastle, but Liverpool are yet to show their hand.

Nicol believes they should be exploring the option of bringing a familiar face back onto their books, especially if the 28-year-old can be acquired in a deal which suits all parties financially.

The former Reds defender told ESPN FC when asked if he would re-sign Coutinho: "Absolutely. Why wouldn't you? I can't think of one reason why you wouldn't.

"The only place he's excelled at is Liverpool. The place loves him, he loves the place. Can you imagine adding Coutinho to a squad that, right now are still champions of Europe even though they're out of this year's competition, and are going to win the Premier League?

"You're going to add a player with the ability of Coutinho, who is going to come in and be in the same situation as a Timo Werner for example, where he is there to fight to get in the starting XI.

"If it's cut-price, yeah. Listen, this guy's making over £13m clear a year. He's going to have to take a hit. The price to buy him is going to have to take a hit but if the money's right, [it's an] absolute no-brainer.

"If the money's right, this would be absolutely fantastic for Liverpool."

This is not the first time that Nicol has called on Klopp to consider an approach for Coutinho, with the Scot having said back in February: "I’d take him – for the right price.

"When he last was at Liverpool, he didn’t only play wide in a front three, he played wide as one of three in the middle of the park.

"Do I think he could do that today? No. He just seems to have completely lost his way. I didn’t expect him to be able to do it at Liverpool, and he did, which was fantastic.

"But he seems to have lost his way. If he was to come back to Liverpool, it would take some time to get back in the swing of the Premier League."

Coutinho previously made 201 appearances for Liverpool, recording 54 goals and a healthy number of assists before deciding to take on a new challenge in Spain.

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