Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has told This Is Futbol that the club should sign Philippe Coutinho this summer despite the likely outrage from Liverpool fans.
The Toffees have been linked with a swoop for the Brazil international, with The Sun claiming that he will make the move this summer with Carlo Ancelotti wanting him to form a South American dream team with James Rodriguez.
So confident is the report, they claim Everton are already trying to find a house for Coutinho to live in on Merseyside, ahead of their £35m deal being completed.
Will Everton sign Philippe Coutinho this summer?
Yes
No
Coutinho has struggled at Barcelona since his move from the Reds, going out on loan to Bayern Munich and struggling with various injury problems.
In total, since his move in 2018, that cost Barca over £140m, he has made just 90 appearances, scoring 23 goals and laying on 14 assists.
It hasn’t worked out, quite simply, but he was something of a star at Liverpool, making 201 appearances and contributing to 99 goals.
Bent thinks Coutinho would be a star at Everton too, and believes they should do everything they can to bring him in.
He told TIF: “I think if you look at Peter Beardsley, Gary Ablett, Kevin Sheedy, they’ve crossed the line and done really well.
“Liverpool are not doing amazing things at the minute and in the last couple of years, Everton have started to be on the same kind of line as them. So attracting those sorts of players is coming forwards.
“With the new stadium and Ancelotti as well, it’s bringing new players, fresh players, world-class players to the club, so crossing that line. Liverpool fans probably won’t like it, as usual, and some Everton fans might not like it either but once he gets in there and starts to prove his worth and commitment to the club, I shouldn’t see anything going wrong.”