COUTINHO TO CAPTAIN THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL
PHILIPPE COUTINHO’S rise to superstar status with Brazil will be confirmed when he leads his nation this summer.
International boss Tite goes Down Under next week with a young, inexperienced squad for friendlies against Argentina and Australia.
And the manager has indicated that, in the absence Neymar, he will give the captain’s armband to the man he wants to step up in the absence of Brazil’s talismanic leader.
Tite will ask Coutinho to play deeper in central midfield, just as he did for Liverpool in the last few games of the Premier League campaign.
He sees the 24-year-old as the future of the Samba stars and wants him to shoulder greater responsibility.
Brazil are in Melbourne to face Argentina on June 9 and the Aussies four days later – and Tite will make Coutinho captain for one of the games to heighten the little magician’s profile still further.
Liverpool will resist any attempt by Barcelona or other clubs to prise their star away.
Boss Jurgen Klopp insists Coutinho has a five-year contract he wants to honour.