On this day in 2013: Liverpool sign Phillipe Coutinho from Inter Milan

Brazil midfielder Phillipe Coutinho joined Liverpool from Inter Milan on this day in 2013.

Coutinho, 20 at the time, signed for the Anfield club in a deal worth £8.5million after the Reds beat off competition from Mauricio Pochettino’s Southampton.

He said: “Liverpool is a great club with great players. We’ve always heard about Liverpool’s history in Brazil. I know they believe in me and my football.”

The Spanish giants were forced to dig deep into their pockets to take him to the Nou Camp, though, splashing out on a reported fee that could have risen to £142million in January 2018.

After three-and-a-half years with Barcelona, which included a season-long loan with Bayern Munich in 2019-20, Coutinho returned to the Premier League in 2022 when he joined Aston Villa on loan, linking up with former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard.

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