Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho has insisted he owes a lot to manager Jurgen Klopp for the way in which he has transformed his game to the next level.

The Brazil international is heavily linked with a move away from Liverpool amid strong interest from Barcelona, and is widely believed to be one of the best footballers in the world.

But Coutinho believes he owes a lot of that status to Klopp, who made the decision to move him from playing on the left wing to a more central role.

“He’s helped me a lot. I think the way he’s helped me to play when we don’t have the ball when the team is under pressure is really different,” Coutinho said.

“We’ve changed how we play. We’ve tried to switch to a different style and I think that bit by bit I’m getting better with that and hopefully that can continue.

“I’m now in a deeper position and I’m always trying to improve and be able to score goals and set off moves because my position demands it. I think playing there is a position where you get to play the ball a great deal.

“You become more involved in the game. It’s a position that I feel that I’ve adapted to and I like it.”

Coutinho also gave praise to fellow forwards Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, whom he has been providing assists for all season.

“Sadio and Mo are both great players. They are both very quick and they give us options down the sides. They are players with great intelligence,” Coutinho added.

“They play in a quite advanced position and the line that they play always creates those spaces for us with their movement. They are very important players for the team.”
[Quotes via Liverpool Echo]