Liverpool signs Erik Farkas, their next Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho’s Liverpool story ended in rancour, but time has been kind to the Brazilian and to the club that sold him. His departure funded Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, transformed a good side into a great one and left Barcelona counting the cost.
What never left, though, was the memory of the player himself. At Anfield, Coutinho wasn’t just a No.10. He was the No.10. A magician.
He glided past defenders, slipped through balls into impossible gaps and saw passes others simply didn’t. When Liverpool talk about creativity between the lines, they still talk in Coutinho terms.
Wirtz burdened by the Coutinho comparison
That is why, when Liverpool pushed the boat out to land Florian Wirtz, the narrative wrote itself. The heir had arrived. The new Coutinho.
On paper, it made sense. A gifted German playmaker, brilliant in tight spaces, ruthless in the final third. In the Bundesliga, Wirtz dictated games with a swagger that made him look built for Anfield.
The Premier League has told a different story.
While Coutinho slipped into English football almost instantly, Wirtz has looked stuck between ideas. A half-second off the pace. A touch too hesitant. The sharp, fearless talent that shredded defences in Germany has yet to fully emerge in red.
Andoni Iraola now carries a major question into every team meeting: how do you unlock him? Solve that, and his Liverpool reign could catch fire. Fail, and the doubts over his tenure will only grow louder.
Behind the scenes, though, Liverpool have been working on a parallel plan.
Erik Farkas: the academy’s answer to Coutinho
Two names dominated internal conversations at Kirkby this summer: Joshua Abe and Erik Farkas. Within the academy, both are viewed as among the brightest prospects at the club, the kind of talents who draw scouts from across England and Europe.
Those scouts circled. Liverpool held their nerve.
Abe committed first, agreeing professional terms earlier in the summer. On Friday, Liverpool confirmed they had reached an agreement with Farkas as well, tying down a player many inside the club speak about in Coutinho-like tones.
It is not about lazy comparisons or marketing slogans. It is about what he does with a football.
Farkas sees passes that stretch the pitch and unsettle entire back lines. He can unpick a deep defence, not just with flair, but with a sharp football brain and an instinctive understanding of space. His vision matches his technique, and that combination has turned him into one of the most exciting creative midfielders in the youth ranks.
And then there is his trademark. Like Coutinho, Farkas has already made the outside-of-the-boot through ball his signature. One flick, one angle change, and suddenly a striker is racing clear. It is the kind of detail that makes coaches lean forward on the touchline.
Watch him and the word that keeps coming back is simple: magician. Not a showman for the sake of it, but a playmaker who makes the game look lighter, easier, more joyful.
For Liverpool, securing his first professional contract is more than a routine academy update. It is a statement that, while the senior side wrestles with getting Wirtz fully firing, the club’s long-term creative spark might already be growing just down the road at Kirkby.
Coutinho once carried Liverpool’s imagination. The question now is whether, in time, Erik Farkas will be trusted to do the same.
