Former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho “would never be welcomed back” at Anfield, according to Danny Murphy.
Coutinho has not yet truly settled at the Camp Nou since joining 13 months ago, with manager Ernesto Valverde claimed to have ‘given up’ on the Brazilian.
Speculation was rife in January that Coutinho could swap Barcelona for Manchester United and rumours have persisted with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain also credited with interest in the playmaker.
Liverpool were even loosely linked with a possible move to bring him back to Merseyside but former Reds midfielder Murphy doesn’t think fans would accept him back.
“Coutinho would never be welcomed back at Liverpool,” Murphy told Sportingbet.
“It hasn’t worked out for him at Barcelona, but he made his bed by declaring how much he wanted to leave and now he has to sleep in it.
“I think even if Liverpool thought it was something they wanted, the fans would make it perfectly clear it wasn’t acceptable and would force them to pull the plug.
“The fans didn’t necessarily begrudge him his move to Barcelona, but he left himself no way to come back.”
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah has been linked with Serie A giants Juventus but Murphy can’t see that happening either.
“I don’t see Salah being remotely tempted to leave Liverpool and the Premier League,” said Murphy.
“I’ve seen reports that Juventus are interested, but that’s not going to happen.
“The Premier League is far more competitive and stimulating than Serie A and Liverpool are more capable of winning the Champions League than Juventus.
“Salah is a player who will always now be linked with Europe’s biggest teams, but he is happy at Liverpool and the fans love him.
“He’s playing the best football of his career at Liverpool.
“I don’t think it would ever be a Coutinho style situation, where he always wanted to play for Barcelona and forced through a move.”