Brazil legend Rivaldo is backing Barcelona attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho to revive his career at Chelsea if the Blues do make a bid for the player.

Reports in Spain claim that the Blues are in talks about a €90m (£79m) switch to Stamford Bridge, and Rivaldo believes a return to the Premier League could help the 27-year-old recapture his best form:

“I believe that this chance Philippe Coutinho now has of continuing his career at Chelsea could be a good option.”

“He will move to a big club and to a country and competition he knows well where he had his best years so far, so if that transfer really happens, I’m sure he will have a good chance of seeing things improve for him in the future, after all, he has already shined on the Premier League before.”

“Looking at Coutinho’s last few years we can say that he didn’t achieve what was expected of him, but he still has time to recover his best football and with his confidence back he could easily become the same player he was at Liverpool.”

Coutinho was certainly one of the stars of the Premier League when he was at Liverpool, but his time at Barca, as well as his loan spell at Bayern Munich, have not gone according to plan.

Barca are said to be determined to offload the Brazilian to free up funds for other signings and, in addition to Chelsea, the playmaker has been linked with Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Coutinho could, however, also be used as a makeweight in Barcelona’s deals for Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.