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‘HOME TROUBLE’ HUNTS COUTINHO AT BARCELONA

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It may not be only in Africa that there are strong superstitions, especially what is sometimes referred to as ‘home trouble’. At FC Barcelona, Coutinho may be experiencing the same phenomena if information from Spanish publication, Tribuna, is anything to go by.

Coutinho has not been able too reach the heights he was exhibiting at Liverpool since joining FC Barcelona. According to Tribuna, locals joke that Coutinho’s house is cursed.

Before him, stars like Cesc Fabregas, Vermaelen and Andre Gomes had lived there. Coutinho has only managed to score ten goals during the 2018/2019 campaign. He has seemingly lost the competition for the left-wing position to Ousmane Dembele.

The best minds inside and outside the club are trying to understand the reason behind the Brazilian’s misfortunes. From lack of confidence to playing in the wrong role – everything has been named at one point of the season or the other.

The scary house…

The latest explanation goes beyond the surface and into the realm of supernatural: the locals joke that Coutinho’s house in Barcelona is jinxed.

Cesc Fabregas – the first Barca-linked owner of this house – bought it just a few months before leaving the Catalans for Chelsea. Thomas Vermaelen struggled with injuries and lengthy stays on sidelines through the whole period of owning the house.

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Finally, the latest person to live there prior to Coutinho was Andre Gomes and we all remember how it worked for the Portuguese at Barcelona: not only he struggled to integrate into the team, Gomes faced outright hostility from the fans and even admitted struggling from psychological problems because of that.

Coutinho scored the opener in Barca’s 4-4 draw with Villarreal and generally looked good during the game before being replaced with Leo Messi in the 60th minute.

Earlier, Diario Sport quoted Coutinho’s alleged words while he was at the training camp with Brazil national team: “I’m thinking of leaving Barca, I know that it’s a hard decision but it could be the best thing for my career.”

The same newspaper mentioned Coutinho’s huge ambitions. Apparently, he wants to be ‘the leader of a club’, ‘one of the best players on the planet’. Nevertheless, Sport also notified Coutinho’s self-criticism.

He allegedly realizes his Blaugrana struggles and knows he needs to improve. Moreover, the Brazilian reportedly receives complete support from his Barcelona teammates and the board. In fact, he has never imagined leaving Barca but, perhaps, this is his only option.

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Chelsea, PSG and Man United are mentioned among the clubs interested in the Brazilian.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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