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Barcelona announced on Friday that Philippe Coutinho has been handed a new shirt number and will wear the No. 14 at the club for the coming campaign.
New number looks good on you, @Phil_Coutinho 👌
The Brazilian is back at the Camp Nou after a season-long loan with Bayern Munich and previously wore the No. 7. Antoine Griezmann has already confirmed he’s taking over the number with the blessing of Coutinho.
The former Liverpool man wore the No. 14 when he first arrived at Barcelona from the Premier League side in January 2018. Coutinho made a bright start to life at the Camp Nou, scoring 10 goals in 22 appearances in 2017-18.
Barcelona will be hoping Coutinho can now rekindle the kind of form that persuaded the club to spend £142 million on him just over two years ago. The No. 14 has previously been worn by players such as Johan Cruyff, Thierry Henry, and Thierry Henry.
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Coutinho Ready For New Campaign
Coutinho has looked bright for Barcelona ahead of the new La Liga season. The forward scored in pre-season friendlies against both Girona and Nastic as the club fine-tuned their preparations for the new campaign.
The 28-year-old also featured in Saturday’s 1-0 Joan Gamper Trophy win at the Camp Nou and spoke to reporters after the game about how he felt being back at the famous stadium.
“I missed playing at this stadium. Good feelings after the game, it’s the first game and it’s a week to go. We’re working hard, we’re all focused on having a good season,” he said.
“We haven’t had a lot of time, we’re going from less to more now and we have to keep working. We need to understand what the coaching staff wants.
“I’m really excited to get going, I want things to go well. I’m very motivated, I started pre-season early to get working, so things can came out well this season. We’re getting used to the way we train now. This will be good for the team.”
Coutinho struggled to make an impact during his first spell with Barcelona but will be hoping he can turn things around in 2020-21. The Brazilian should be full of confidence after helping Bayern Munich win the treble, while new boss Ronald Koeman looks set to hand a second chance at Barca.
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