Former Premier League star Emmanuel Petit believes Philippe Coutinho has started to regret the decision to leave Liverpool for Barcelona in January 2018. The Brazil international become a household figure for the Merseyside outfit during a five-and-a-half year spell but he could not resist the prospect of joining the Blaugrana.
However, the move did not go as planned for the 27-year-old and he is currently at Bayern Munich on a season-long loan. Speaking to The Mirror, Petit said that Coutinho will have regrets over the transfer decision and compared it with himself when he made the ambitious move to the Camp Nou from Arsenal, which failed to work out.
He told: “If I was Philippe Coutinho, every morning I would wake up and think to myself, ‘Why, why, did I sign [for Barcelona] in Spain?’ And do you know why I say this? Because, I can remember the time when I’d wake up, when I was at Barcelona, when I left Arsenal, and I was thinking the same way, ‘Why did I leave? Why did I leave? Why did I leave?”
He added that Coutinho has managed to redeem himself with quality performances for Bayern but he does not have assurances of a starting position. As such, Petit believes the Brazilian should make the comeback to the Premier League when the opportunity arises, he added: “And to be honest with you I am sure Coutinho has been asking himself the same question for a while now. He left for Bayern Munich, he does sometimes play well but he’s not really a first-team player. I’m pretty sure it would work out for him [returning to England].”
Coutinho has been linked with moves to Chelsea and Manchester United ahead of the summer transfer window but the former are deemed to be leading the race. The west London outfit, however, prefer to sign him on a temporary basis for the campaign with the option to buy in the summer of 2021.