Nicky Butt says 'amazing' player actually never should have left Liverpool

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Nicky Butt reckons a player who was sold by Liverpool should never have left Anfield.The Reds have made big changes to their squad in the last several years.Most recently, they sold a player now valued higher than two Liverpool wonderkids.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis. Luis Diaz being allowed to depart Anfield for Bayern Munich is viewed as a mistake by some.Now, Nicky Butt thinks that an older transfer deal was actually a mistake.Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty ImagesPhilippe Coutinho should have stayed at LiverpoolLiverpool signed Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan in 2013, when he was still one of the hottest young prospects in world football.He made 201 appearances for the Merseyside outfit, scoring 54 and assisting 44.Coutinho left for FC Barcelona in 2018, which Butt has now claimed should not have happened.Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, he said: “I think Coutinho was amazing for a few years at Liverpool, before he went to Barcelona, which he probably shouldn’t have done.”He spent four years on Barca’s books but was never a regular feature for the Spanish outfit.Coutinho did play just over 100 games for the La Liga giants, though his spell was littered with loan moves before he was eventually sold to Aston Villa in 2022.Photo by Riquelve Santos/Sports Press Photo/Getty ImagesWhat does Philippe Coutinho do now?The South American’s stint at Villa Park was tough and short-lived, scoring just six in 43 matches.The now 33-year-old was loaned to Al-Duhail SC in 2024 before returning to his former club, Vasco da Gama, on a temporary basis.After his Aston Villa contract expired this past summer, he made a permanent return to his first-ever team in July 2025.Coutinho is finally playing regular football again, notching 11 goals and five assists in 49 matches during the most recent season in Brazil.Vasco da Gama have even made him captain on several occasions, including in their most recent tie, a 3-1 defeat to Juventude.