Coutinho finally fulfilling his obvious early potential

As a fan of FC Internazionale I used to sit and watch the raw talents of Philippe Coutinho and dream of the day that he could turn the obvious potential into something great and be man to lead the team onto a bright future. He always had the technique, touch and vision, nobody doubted that but questions were raised about his size, strength and ability to control matches. Then came the January transfer window of 2013 and all that changed: Liverpool bought the young Brazilian and Inter were left to ponder what could have been.

When Inter first signed Philippe Coutinho from Vasco de Gama for a mere four million euros as a promising 16 year old expectations were already high. After all here was a player already heralded as one of two, alongside a certain Neymar Jnr, who would take the Selecao onto future greatness. Having secured the future of the youngster Inter loaned him back to Vasco for two years as Italian clubs were not allowed to play professionally in Italy until they were 18. During this time Coutinho broke into the Vasco first team appearing 19 times and scoring once.