What became of the player Brendan Rodgers wanted Liverpool to sign instead of Philippe Coutinho?

Back in January 2013, during a period when Liverpool were still trying to rediscover their former glory, the club struck an £8.5 million deal with Inter Milan to sign Philippe Coutinho. Few realised that Brendan Rodgers had just brought in a player who would become one of the Premier League’s most inspired bargains.

Coutinho quickly became Liverpool’s magician-in-chief. The Brazilian playmaker lit up Anfield with dazzling dribbles, inch-perfect free kicks and long-range stunners, racking up 54 goals and 44 assists in 201 games. His brilliance gave supporters genuine hope that Liverpool were on the rise again. When he left for Barcelona in 2018, it felt like a step backwards — as though the magic had left with him. But the £142 million fee allowed Liverpool to sign Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk, two transformational players who helped Jurgen Klopp guide the club to Champions League and Premier League glory.

Brendan Rodgers originally wanted someone else

Interestingly, Coutinho wasn’t Rodgers’ first choice. As revealed on The Overlap podcast, the manager preferred to sign Tom Ince instead. The Coutinho deal was driven by data analysis from sporting director Michael Edwards and scout Barry Hunter, who convinced Rodgers to change course — a decision that shaped the club’s modern success story.

Time has shown that Liverpool chose wisely. Ince, once a promising academy graduate and Football League Young Player of the Year at Blackpool, never made the leap to elite level. After leaving Liverpool for free in 2011, he had a nomadic career: Hull City, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Huddersfield Town, Stoke City, Luton Town, Preston North End, and later Reading — where he briefly played under his father. In 2023, he joined Watford after activating a small release clause.

Now 33 and still in the Championship, Ince serves as a reminder of just how close Liverpool came to picking the wrong player during an era defined by other misfires such as Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto.