Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Philippe Coutinho was not handed the captaincy during his side’s win over Swansea in order to keep him at the club.
The 25-year old continued his stellar form this season and pulled off a good performance as the Reds defeated the Swans 5-0 on Boxing Day.
Coutinho has been strongly linked with a move to Barcelona during recent months and the Spanish giants could be set to rekindle their interest when the January transfer window opens.
Klopp has insisted that he did not hand the captains armband to Coutinho to keep him satisfied but did so because James Milner and Jordan Henderson were not available.
“I don’t want to make it any less romantic but when Hendo and Milly aren’t playing, Philippe Coutinho is our next longest-serving,” he told reporters.
“That was why he was captain. Maybe I could be smarter and think ‘If I give him the armband, he will never leave’. But that is not how it works.
“Obviously he dealt with it really well because it can mean different things. You can feel the lift or the pressure and it didn’t disturb him. He is in a really good moment and I’m not sure the armband had a big influence.
“He has been very good in the last few weeks, when he wasn’t wearing the armband. It is a different thing to what Hendo and Milly are doing in the dressing room and around the club. Having it on the pitch is important but not in the same way.”
