A poor man’s Coutinho: New AC Milan man Suso has much to prove

With Steven Gerrard’s confirmed departure from Liverpool dominating headlines recently the confirmed exit from Anfield of a teammate — very much at the other end of his career — went largely unnoticed across Europe as AC Milan announced they had agreed a deal for Spanish youngster Suso.

Like his captain, the 21-year-old is set to join the Rossoneri in July when his contract officially expires, and whether the Serie A giants manage to negotiate an earlier release or not, they will be praising themselves for securing a player of undoubted promise.

Ironically progress on Merseyside was blocked by a man who swapped San Siro for Anfield two years ago, albeit from cross-town rivals Inter, under almost identical circumstances — finding playing time restricted and his quite obvious talent going to waste.

Since arriving on British shores Philippe Coutinho has shone in the Premier League leading to many Inter fans to question how or why the diminutive Brazilian was ever allowed to leave the club at the tender age of 20.

What they will not want is for Liverpool supporters to be suffering the same fate in the future should Italy prove an equally fertile ground for the Spaniard to finally unleash his talents.

However, whether the remainder of this season or next summer the Milan fans should not expect too much from the Cadiz-born prodigy just yet, who, although shining for the Liverpool academy, has only fleetingly matched that quality for the first-team.

In comparison Coutinho arrived in Italy with 26 appearances and two goals under his belt at Vasco da Gama and, before departing, looked like making a significant impact at Inter during the start of the 2010-11 season in a side clearly in decline following Jose Mourinho’s tenure.

Suso was given opportunities during Brendan Rodgers’ first 12 months and the quality showed. Although it he remains inconstant, it is why Liverpool and their fans clearly wanted him to stay; however, too many are too easily pleased by exotically named foreign youngsters displaying the elegant technique in short supply in England.

The fact is that there are just 16 months between the two players and Suso is still someway behind the level his 22-year-old counterpart displays in amazing regularity, whilst still trailing behind in the slipstream of fellow academy graduate Raheem Sterling.

Some supporters seemed to pin unrealistic hopes on Suso’s impact off the bench in an action-packed cup tie with Middlesbrough when he scored to make it 2–1. What most had forgotten however is that these were the only 22 minutes of football he has played this season.

Out-of-favour or not, you would expect more first-team activity if Suso were to succeed long-term and at the level both Liverpool and AC Milan aspire to.

Unwilling to sign a contract extension due to his lack of playing time, Suso is clearly confident in his own ability and that is something AC Milan should look to exploit and give him the stage onto which he can impress fans with his cultured left foot and drop-of-the-shoulder.

For AC Milan there is little to no risk with the Spaniard likely to cost nothing at all. Indeed, Suso could turn out to be even better value than Coutinho was back in January 2013. However, the caveat is that his inability to break into the Liverpool first-team and their unwillingness to move mountains to keep him may highlight permanent shortcomings on Suso’s part.

Follow Kevin Pogorzelski on Twitter: @rabbitrabbiton