Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa may be about to pull off a January transfer shock by signing Philippe Coutinho – a man regularly linked with a move to Arsenal. Well, Gerrard believes that the Brazilian international is still ‘world-class’ and despite remaining coy on the rumours, his verdict on the Brazilian show the Gunners may well be making a mistake on passing up on the player.
Steven Gerrard said: “He is a wonderful footballer. To share a dressing room and a pitch with Coutinho was an absolute pleasure. He’s a friend of mine. He was on a level that very few footballers are on with his imagination and creativity. His highlight reels are there for all to see. He’s won two league titles at Barcelona, two Copa del Reys. If you go and have a look at his Wiki page you’ll see a serial winner wherever he goes. He’s won 63 caps for Brazil, played for Barcelona and was incredible at Liverpool. I don’t think you get a nickname of ‘The Magician’ if you’re not a special footballer. I can understand why a lot of supporters up and down the country are speaking about him. He is also linked to five, six other clubs in this league and I am sure there would be a long list of foreign clubs that are linked with Philippe’s services as well. You are talking about a world-class individual and player. He is someone I’ve got an incredible amount of respect for, but I don’t want to add to any speculation because he belongs to Barcelona. I do appreciate his name is out there and he is linked to Aston Villa. I appreciate and respect the speculation but I can’t give anything further than that. That is not fair or respectful and I wouldn’t like that disrespect coming this way in terms of Aston Villa.”
