Philippe Coutinho has stunned his current club by asking to have his contract terminated
Philippe Coutinho of Vasco da Gama
Philippe Coutinho is on his way out of another club(Image: Getty Images)
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Philippe Coutinho looks set to force his way out of another club as Jurgen Klopp's warning continues to haunt him. The Brazilian, who was famously told he would regret leaving Liverpool as he angled for a move to Barcelona during the 2017/18 season, has caught his current club Vasco da Gama by surprise by announcing he intends to terminate his contract.
According to reports in Brazil, the news came out of the blue for Vasco, who had actually started talks with the 33-year-old over a new contract. Coutinho's current deal was due to expire in June.
Despite efforts to change his mind, Globo has reported the decision is "irreversible." It's added that the decision is related to criticism he has received from supporters after he was booed during a recent home match.
It represents another messy chapter of a career that has stalled since Klopp told him shortly before he left for Barcelona in early 2018: "Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour.
"Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more."
Coutinho ignored that advice by leaving in a club-record £142million deal with Barcelona. But rather than scale new heights alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, the Brazilian playmaker's career went into a downward spiral which resulted in him becoming a journeyman.
His Nou Camp nightmare, which included a loan spell at Bayern Munich, ended in 2022. An attempt to get his career back on track at Aston Villa under Steven Gerrard started well but failed badly after his ex-Liverpool team-mate was sacked.
Jurgen Klopp speaks to Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho's career went downhill after he ignored Jurgen Klopp's advice(Image: Getty Images)
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While Unai Emery triggered a dramatic upturn at Villa Park, he couldn't coax the best out of the mercurial Coutinho, who was soon shipped out on loan.
There were spells at Al-Duhail in Qatar and Vasco before he joined the latter permanently from Villa last year. But what should have been an emotional homecoming to his boyhood club has turned sour.
Turning 34 in the summer and having not played for Brazil since 2022, Coutinho may be wondering if he should have listened to Klopp's advice after all.
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