Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has defended his former Liverpool team-mate Philippe Coutinho after his loan move from Barcelona to Bayern Munich.
The Brazilian ace has come in for criticism from fans of the Reds, for the manner of his exit, and also supporters of the Catalan giants over his performances while at the Camp Nou, and BT Sport sent out a post on Instagram asking: “Can Philippe Coutinho prove the haters wrong at Bayern Munich?” accompanied by a photograph of him with his fingers in his ears while at Barca.
However, Oxlade-Chamberlain replied to the account declaring: “He doesn't need to prove anything to anyone.”
This isn't the first time that Oxlade-Chamberlain has leapt to Coutinho's defence either.
The pair spent half a season together at Anfield in the first half of the 2017/18 campaign before Coutinho joined Barcelona for £142million.
Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Liverpool from Arsenal at the end of the 2017 summer window at a time when Coutinho had been agitating for a move to Barca and handed in a transfer request.
He stayed put until the following January though and during a post-match television interview following a 4-0 win at Bournemouth in December 2017, Oxlade-Chamberlain stepped it after a Sky Sports reporter asked Coutinho about “how desperate he was to remain as part of the Liverpool team, at least until the end of the season.”
Coutinho replied: “I always say the same thing, I try to enjoy the moment, I like to play football and every time I go on the pitch I try my best.”
However, Oxlade-Chamberlain interjected: “Phil’s a Liverpool player right now and he’s doing really well for us.
“He’s been the most professional player I’ve seen all season.
“He’s been top quality since the start and every time he gets on the pitch he does his all for the club and that’s the most important thing.
“It’s not fair to ask those kinds of questions I don’t think. He gives us his all every match and that’s all we can ask of him.”
