Roberto Firmino lavished high praise on Brazil team-mate Philippe Coutinho, claiming he has magical powers that help him see passes and moves that other players could not imagine.
Coutinho and Firmino have been team-mates since 2014 when the latter broke into the Brazil setup, four years after the Barcelona attacker.
But in 2015 they became Liverpool colleagues as well when Firmino joined from Hoffenheim, as the foundations for Jurgen Klopp s all-conquering Reds began to take shape.
Coutinho ultimately left for Barcelona in 2018 before Liverpool realised their full potential, and ever since little has gone right for the Vasco da Gama youth product, who struggled at Camp Nou before failing to earn a permanent move to Bayern Munich.
But Firmino remains convinced of the talent still held by Coutinho, who has been given a fresh chance at Barca under new head coach Ronald Koeman.
He s phenomenal, Firmino told FIFA. You simply can t say that he s not a magician. He has magical powers.
He produces plays that don t exist, that you couldn t make up. You always have to watch replays of his plays to understand what he s done. He s an unbelievable player.
