There are plenty of eyebrows being raised as to Philippe Coutinho not being in the Liverpool squad for their win at Burnley on New Year’s Day.
[ PHOTOS: Coutinho transfer leaked? ]
The official explanation given by Jurgen Klopp was that both Coutinho and Mohamed Salah were injured, with minor thigh and groin injuries respectively.
Salah limped off late on against Leicester City on Saturday after scoring twice to seal a comeback win for fourth place Liverpool, but Coutinho played 89 minutes and showed no signs of injury and Klopp didn’t mention a knock for Coutinho after that win.
Speaking to the media after the win at Burnley on Monday, Klopp revealed that both players are a doubt for the FA Cup third round clash against rivals Everton on Friday at Anfield.
“Phil are Mo are injured, not massively but enough for today [to be] no chance,” Klopp said. “And [they are] a doubt, at least a doubt, for Everton.”
But could Coutinho’s absence have something to do with what happened yesterday?
Klopp insisted it was due to an injury but some are trying to connect the dots...
Nike’s websites across the global started to promote Coutinho as a FC Barcelona player. There were adverts popping up all over the place saying “Philippe Coutinho is ready to ignite Camp Nou” and urging fans to “Get the FC Barcelona 2017-18 kit with the name of the wizard.”
Hmm. Very, very interesting.
With Virgil van Dijk arriving on January 1 from Southampton for $100 million in a world-record fee for a defender, Liverpool’s fans are certainly concerned that Coutinho could head to Barcelona in a $150 million deal.
The Brazilian playmaker handed in a transfer request in the summer amid multiple bids from Barca but Liverpool turned them all down.
For now, it appears Coutinho and Salah will next play for Liverpool against Manchester City on Jan. 14 at Anfield.
