Philippe Coutinho: Now or never to prove himself at Barcelona after Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi exits

Philippe Coutinho has already experienced the pressure that comes with being anointed the replacement for a departed Barcelona great. After all, the Brazilian playmaker was signed to fill the boots of Neymar who left the Catalan club reeling in the summer window of 2017 by swapping the Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain.

This summer, Barca were once again left to rue the exit of another club legend, the biggest club legend of all, as Lionel Messi followed the route established by Neymar, signing for PSG in a deal that electrified European football. And just like the last time, Coutinho is one of the players charged with keeping the current flowing at the Camp Nou.

Financial troubles have left Barcelona’s squad thin with Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Junior Firpo, Emerson Royal, Miralem Pjanic and Francisco Trincao all offloaded to bring the club’s wage bill under control. Ronald Koeman might therefore have no choice but to use Coutinho, who is fit again following a long injury lay-off.

Of course, the dynamic for Coutinho is drastically different now than it was in January 2018, when Barcelona spent a club record fee of £142m to sign a player widely seen as one of the Premier League’s best at the time. The loss of Neymar hurt Barca, but the signing of Coutinho was an emphatic response.

Three-and-a-half years later, Coutinho is considered damaged goods. He has never been able to find his role at Barcelona with Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien and Koman all failing to fit the Brazilian into a coherent tactical system. In a 4-3-3 shape, the formation traditionally used by Barca, Coutinho doesn't offer enough width to play on the left or right of the front three, nor does he have the positional discipline to operate as a central midfielder.

With Messi gone, though, Koeman will have more freedom to experiment with new formations and tactics. In a sense, Barcelona have been liberated by the exit of their greatest ever player and Coutinho, who might suit a 3-5-2 or 3-1-4-2 shape better, could be someone who benefits.

There is a world class player somewhere in there. While Barcelona might have overpaid for Coutinho, few believed the Brazilian would be a failure in Spain. He possesses a level of technical ability that should allow him to dictate games for Barca and has an eye for goal that should give the Catalans a different dimension in the final third.

Koeman has already done a good job of getting more out of Barca’s expensive flops. Frenkie de Jong looked to be something of a misfit before Koeman built his midfield around the Dutch international. Indeed, de Jong is now considered one of Barcelona’s best, and most consistent, performers.

Ousmane Dembele is another who has at least contributed under Koeman, with the French winger a first team figure last season until injury prematurely ended his campaign. Even Griezmann enjoyed an uptick in form before a sale to Atletico Madrid was used to ease the financial burden on the Camp Nou club.

Coutinho, however, will be Koeman’s most challenging project to date. At 29, the Brazilian is one of the most senior figures left in the Barcelona dressing room, yet he has very little credit with his teammates considering how scantly he has contributed over the last three seasons. It’s time for that to change.

Circumstance might be the true reason for Coutinho’s reprieve, but he cannot allow the opportunity of more game time to pass him by. It’s now or never for the Brazilian to make himself a success as a Barca player. Coutinho will never place Messi and Neymar, but he can still look the part in blaugrana.