Roberto Firmino has made it clear that he would be keen on Philippe Coutinho returning to Liverpool after ‘liking’ an Instagram post about his fellow countryman making a personal plea to Jurgen Klopp.

Coutinho has badly struggled to live up to expectations after securing a dream £135.5million switch to Barcelona back in 2018 and the 28-year-old was sent on loan to Bayern Munich at the start of the season.

Though the attacking midfielder has impressed in the Bundesliga, racking up eight goals and six assists across the campaign, the German champions have decided against activating an option to make the deal permanent.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester have all been mooted as potential suitors, with Barca open to offers for Coutinho this summer, but it appears a return to Merseyside would be the Brazilian’s preferred option.

Coutinho has told Klopp that he would even be willing to accept a sizeable pay-cut to rejoin the Reds. And Firmino – who formed a close relationship with Coutinho both on and off the pitch with at Liverpool – has made his feelings known over a possible reunion with his compatriot after ‘liking’ a post from ‘theliverpoolgoals’ on Instagram.

‘Philippe Coutinho has made a personal plea to Jurgen Klopp in a bid to engineer his return to Anfield even of it means taking a pay cut to seal his return to Anfield,’ the post said.

Recent reports suggest that Barcelona would be willing to part with Coutinho for a fee of just £44.5m but this could still be a problem for Liverpool, considering the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Asked about Liverpool pulling out of the race for Timo Werner earlier this month, Klopp told Sky Germany: ‘There are all sorts of rumours in England about who Manchester United are going to pick, Chelsea are going to pick. ‘It’s rather quiet here (at Liverpool) at the moment, I think it’s safe to say.

‘If you want to take it seriously and run a normal business and depend on income and have no idea how much you will earn… especially because we don’t know when we can start playing with spectators again. ‘At the moment, all clubs are losing money. Without spectators, we have to pay back the season tickets and probably sell none next year. ‘At least maybe without the first 10 or 15 games. 

The VIP areas won’t be packed and the tickets won’t be sold. This will have an impact on other partners and things will look a bit different. ‘Discussing with the players about things like salary waivers and on the other hand buying a player for £50-60m, we have to explain.’

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol believes a move for Coutinho would be a ‘no-brainer’ if Barcelona are ready to sell the Brazil international for the right price. ‘Absolutely. Why wouldn’t you? I can’t think of one reason why you wouldn’t,’ Nicol told ESPN.

‘The only place he’s excelled at is Liverpool. The place loves him, he loves the place. ‘Can you imagine adding Coutinho to a squad that, right now are still champions of Europe even though they’re out of this year’s competition, and are going to win the Premier League?

‘You’re going to add a player with the ability of Coutinho, who is going to come in and be in the same situation as a Timo Werner for example, where he is there to fight to get in the starting XI. ‘If it’s cut-price, yeah. Listen, this guy’s making over £13m clear a year.

He’s going to have to take a hit. The price to buy him is going to have to take a hit but if the money’s right, [it’s an] absolute no-brainer. ‘If the money’s right, this would be absolutely fantastic for Liverpool.’

source:- metro