Go forth and multiply (your transfer fee)

Rodgers on the man he bought for £8.5m... who was then sold for £145m

BRENDAN Rodgers gets a paternalistic kick f r om giving footballers a leg up to the next level. Taking seeds of ambition and ability and turning them into something more tangible.

Raheem Sterling left his Liverpool side to join Manchester City for £49million. Luis Suarez more than tripled his value when he made a £75m departure from Anfield to Barcelona. Philippe Coutinho, a player Rodgers signed for £8.5m from Inter Milan five years ago, has just become the third-most expensive player in history, heading for the Nou Camp in a deal worth £145m.

‘Philippe sent me a nice text the other day when he was arriving in Barcelona,’ said the Celtic manager yesterday. ‘He’s a great young guy, he was never a moment’s problem for me. He was a magical player to work with.

‘He is a Barcelona player if ever there was one.

‘At the time when I brought him to Liverpool, he wasn’t in the team at Inter Milan. He was a young player and they needed to sell one or two players to get some money in. So he wasn’t playing.

‘I think people questioned when I brought him in whether he was big enough and tall enough.

‘But I had seen him as a young player, saw him at Inter Milan at 18 around top players and I always felt he had the technical quality. And, of course, he was always going to get better physically.’

Barcelona tried three times to get Coutinho last summer. To his credit, the Brazilian playmaker refused to down tools at Anfield in the interim.

In Sportsmail’s exclusive insight this week into the final days of the transfer, he emerges as a solid professional and family man. The kind of player Rodgers prefers to work with, be it in the heat of the English Premier League title challenge of 2014, or at Celtic, where Lewis Morgan is the latest capture from St Mirren.

‘Philippe is really a wonderful example. Of course, it is difficult for players,’ he said.

‘It is hard if there is a move to a club, especially a move to a club that maybe he had wanted to go to. Clearly, Liverpool rightly stood their ground until they got the fee they wanted.

‘As soon as the window shut, he got on with his work.

‘ He was a great player f or Liverpool in his time there and, at 25, he is in the middle of his asset age, so he’s going to light it up there for the next eight, nine, ten years. A brilliant player and a really humble boy who works really hard and never forgets his roots.’

When he joined Liverpool in January 2013, Coutinho was at a low ebb; a young player in danger of losing his way in Italian football. Rodgers saw something he could work with, a footballer he could polish and hone. The text message from Coutinho en route to Catalonia was an acknowledgement of his role in a remarkable piece of business.

‘We have kept in contact ever since I left,’ admitted the Celtic boss.

‘At the time before he came to Liverpool he was low in confidence. I believed in his ability.

‘It was clear what he was. If you see him play now, he played like that when he was an 11-year-old child. You see videos of him playing Futsal. He was exactly the same.

‘But he needed that belief. He came in, developed and improved and he was outstanding .

‘I’ve said before that, for me, it’s not about what’s on my CV. I see the joy in seeing the likes of him get his move and Raheem Sterling improve from being an 18-year- old kid and leaving for £49m. And other players that I’ve worked with.

‘You feel you have played a little part in helping them achieve what is a dream for them.’

A fee of £145m is far removed from the £300,000 Celtic paid to acquire Morgan from St Mirren.

The capture of the 21-year-old winger surprised supporters who crave tried and tested Champions League performers capable of going straight into the team

Yet Rodgers likes a project. A player he can develop and coach. The Scotland Under- 21 star impresses the Parkhead boss whenever their paths cross.

‘He was a boy that really took my eye when we played St Mirren last season. Even though we won the game 4-1, I liked how direct he was and his quality. He was a handful on the day. We kept an eye on him from then.

‘We watched him for Scotland Under- 21s against Holland and he was up against a really physical player that night. It was interesting to see if he could cope with that — and he did. He’s a boy that is hungry.

‘He has done very, very well with (St Mirren manager) Jack Ross. I spoke to Jack at length about him.

‘Then I was given permission to speak to the player at length. He is a very humble boy, he knows where he’s at in his career. It is hard to tell, when they come to a big club.

‘You come to Celtic and it’s hard for lots of players, so if he can cope with that level of scrutiny, pressure and expectation, then he could be a wonderful player.

‘He has the talent, he’s direct, he’s quick, he can score goals, he has two great feet, so yeah, we will look forward to the chance to work with him when he comes in the summer.’

Loaned back to St Mirren for the remainder of the season, fears that Morgan could become the next Scott Allan or Derek Riordan are offset by the testimonials of people who know him. Celtic have done their homework.

‘I like players that are hungry and coachable and want to learn,’ added Rodgers.

‘I tend to bring the right types of character into the squad.

‘Everything I had heard about him was very good as a boy.

‘You can’t always go on what they’re like, but, obviously, the first impression is important.’

First impressions of a young Coutinho didn’t turn out too bad. Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell would bite the hand offering a fraction of the cash winging its way this week to a Liverpool bank account.