26 August 2023 , 11:12
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They are the words which will haunt Philippe Coutinho until the day he hangs up his boot.
"Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour," he was told by Jurgen Klopp in January 2018, when trying to engineer a move out of Liverpool. "Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more."
Coutinho duly ignored his advice, heading to the Nou Camp in a club record £142million deal. But rather than scale new heights alongside Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Co, the Brazilian playmaker has never recaptured the form that regularly wowed crowds at Anfield.
Indeed, after just 18 months with the Catalan giants, he was shipped out to Bayern on loan before returning to Spain, but was soon deemed surplus to requirements. In 2022 Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa came calling, giving the once-mercurial force a chance to revive his career in the Premier League.
By the time Coutinho landed in Birmingham, his trophy cabinet had been undoubtedly boosted. Two La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey with Barca, plus a Bundesliga and above all, a 2020 Champions League win with Bayern arguably justified him leaving Merseyside.
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But amid his haul of silverware, the notion that his individual star has faded was unavoidable. And for Barca, his contribution was scant return given the fee and an eye-watering contract worth a reported £480,000-a-week - and following an initial loan stint an eventual £17million move to Villa represented a monumental loss.
Under Gerrard, there were flashes of the brilliance that once signified his play, but consistency lacked. And once his former teammate was dismissed last season, the arrival of Unai Emery produced an upturn in team form, but failed to spark a revival from Coutinho.
Coutinho moved to Barcelona for £142 million in January 2018 (Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Philippe Coutinho have ever left Liverpool? Comment below.
And the 31-year-old has now agreed personal terms with the club in the Middle East, although he won't be heading to the Saudi Pro League with hoards of other Premier League stars. Instead, Coutinho is set to join Qatari team Al-Duhail.
Whilst the switch should at least provide an ample opportunity for first-team football, it is also significant that the Saudi superpowers, seemingly hell-bent on securing star names even if beyond their peak, weren't prepared to make an offer. According to reports Villa themselves are yet to officially sanction a move, but Emery is unlikely to block his departure.
It may leave Coutinho wondering if, had he listened to Klopp, he would indeed be a due a statue outside the famous Shankly Gates. Instead, he's preparing to fly to Qatar, and in terms of re-establishing himself as a world-class performer, as he travels will surely leave the last chance saloon behind him.