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Dean Saunders advises Liverpool against Philippe Coutinho return

By Luke Pawley | 10 July 2019

Dean Saunders advises Liverpool against Coutinho return

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders advises Jurgen Klopp against re-signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona amid recent speculation linking him with a return.

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders has claimed that the Reds do not need to re-sign Philippe Coutinho this summer.

Saunders's suggestion comes after Liverpool were linked with a potential return for the Brazilian midfielder, who was sold to Barcelona for a reported £142m in January 2018.

Liverpool won the Champions League last season and missed out on the Premier League title by two points, although Saunders does not believe that they need Coutinho to build on their success.

"Liverpool haven't missed him," Saunders told talkSPORT. "They lost one game all season and lost the league by one point when Man City won each of their last 14 games, so they didn't bottle it.

"Positionally have they missed him? No. [Sadio] Mane, [Mohamed] Salah and [Roberto] Firmino are the front three, and [Divock] Origi and [Xherdan] Shaqiri have come in and done their bit."

Saunders went on to suggest that Liverpool are lacking a 'really inventive midfield player' but stated that he believes Naby Keita has the ability to fulfil that role next season.

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp is yet to sign a first-team player this summer but 17-year-old defender Sepp van den Berg has joined from Dutch side PEC Zwolle.