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Old friends with sights fixed on a fresh start will reunite today on Merseyside.
‘He’s like a brother to me,’ Philippe Coutinho told Sportsmail when Allan signed for Everton in 2020. ‘We are the same age, we played together in the youth teams at Vasco, we were both nervous in our first match as professionals and we played together in the national teams.’
They collide at Goodison Park with Coutinho back in the city of Liverpool, for Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa, and with Allan preparing for life after Rafa Benitez and Duncan Ferguson back in caretaker charge of Everton. The pair became close friends at Vasco da Gama, giants of Rio de Janeiro who had fallen into the second tier of Brazilian football in 2009.
Old friends Philippe Coutinho and Allan reunite on the pitch when Aston Villa visit Everton
With no money for star players, they rebuilt around a core of young talent under coach Dorival Junior.
‘Coutinho was very young and a bit withdrawn,’ says Dorival. ‘He showed his personality with the ball at his feet. Allan had much more aggression and was willing to be on top of the opponent in any way he could.’
The teenagers seized their chance. Coutinho was a year younger than Allan, and always considered the more gifted.
He remained at Vasco but his transfer to Inter Milan was in place, even before he turned professional at 18. Allan’s strengths were his great speed and stamina,
