On the 25th of January, Philippe Coutinho made his debut for Barcelona after completing his dream move to the club for £142m, but although it was his first time playing in a Barca shirt, the shirts of the opposition team were certainly not unfamiliar to him. He knows the opponents, FCD Espanyol, very well, as he spent a period on loan there in 2012.
The young Brazilian arrived in Europe eight years ago, in 2010. His destination was Inter Milan, who had bought him two years previously from Vasco da Gama's academy, then loaned him back to the Rio de Janeiro club for a couple of years.
However, despite the high expectations surrounding the midfielder, he did not enjoy an easy start at the Milan club. He struggled to adapt, both to the country, the league, and the team. After spending a few years at Inter, struggling to find form and consistency, the club had lost faith in the young player. Then-manager Claudio Ranieri decided to loan him out to Espanyol, in what was seen as his last chance at Internazionale.
On his arrival in Spain in January 2012, however, Coutinho's fortunes changed. In charge of Espanyol at the time was Mauricio Pochettino, and as we have come to find out, the Argentinian coach has a knack of getting the best out of players.
The attacking midfielder's burgeoning career experienced a revival at Espanyol, where he scored 5 goals in 16 appearances. “Because of the difficulties in Italy, I found it easier to adapt in Spain during my Espanyol loan", Coutinho recently said when speaking about his earlier experiences in Europe.
Coutinho's time under Pochettino impressed a lot of people, not excluding the Argentine manager himself, who was then appointed as Southampton manager in January 2013, and immediately attempted to sign the Inter Milan player. However, he had also caught the eye of Liverpool, who secured his signature in the same window for €13million.
Fast forward five years, and Coutinho is back in Spain, but now he's on the side of Espanyol's rivals, Barcelona. The Brazilian is tipped to be the successor to Andres Iniesta, and holds the second highest price tag in football history...and it's all thanks to Espanyol and Mauricio Pochettino.