Philippe Coutinho says it was simply inevitable he would sign a new contract with Liverpool and is aiming to finish the season on a high.
The 22-year-old put pen to paper on a new five-year deal in February, but the club have struggled to tie up deals for Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Jon Flanagan since.
Now Coutinho, who was this week nominated for both the PFA Player of the Year and the Young Player of the Year awards, says there was never any other outcome in terms of where his future lay.
“Liverpool have always shown a great warmth to me so when they came to me with a proposal I did not need to think twice to renew the contract,” he is quoted by The Telegraph as saying.
“I have always been looked after very well by this football club and I am very happy at this football club, so I didn’t even have to think about it.”
Coutinho has been in sensational form of late, scoring the winner against Blackburn Rovers in the quarter-finals to earn Liverpool an FA Cup semi-final tie against Aston Villa at Wembley this Sunday.
“When you see the manager trusts you and gives you a lot of confidence it makes you play even better,” he continued. “It makes your football flow better than usual. Trust and confidence from above is always good for a player.
“I like the responsibility I have here and I love the way the fans treat me, the way the staff look after me. On the pitch I try not to think too much about things, just to perform as best as I can in order for the rewards to be shared amongst us.”
Now Coutinho, who earned much praise for his role as a ‘false 9’ in Monday’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle Utd in the Premier League at Anfield, is looking to end 2014/15 on a positive note.
He added, “I’d rather not talk about myself in terms of stepping up levels and things like that because my personal preference is to do my work during the week and then show my best in the game. Sometimes the game does not go for you no matter how much you try, but I do what I can and I leave other people to their opinions on how I played.
“Fortunately the Champions League is not out of reach yet mathematically, anyway, there are still possibilities, even though it is not 100 per cent in our hands. But we’re in the semi finals of a great competition and will do our best to win the trophy – it matters a lot to us as a club.”
Aston Villa vs Liverpool gets underway at 3pm on Sunday, 19th April and is live on BT Sport 1 in the UK.
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