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Kopites are bound to be sceptical.

After all they remember the fanfare that accompanied Luis Suarez penning a new four-and-a-half year contract at Liverpool in December 2013. Seven months later the Uruguay striker completed a £75million move to Barcelona.

However, where that new deal was more about protecting Suarez’s value than securing his services for the long-term as the Reds agreed to insert a buyout clause, the situation with Philippe Coutinho is very different.

Liverpool haven’t opened contract negotiations with the Brazilian’s representatives in order to ensure they get the best possible price when the Spanish giants come knocking next summer.

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For a start, there will be no escape clause – no fee that rival clubs know they can bid to leave the Reds helpless in their attempts to hold on to their supremely gifted attacker.

With Coutinho’s current deal running until 2020, Liverpool are already in a position of strength.

But it’s a wise move to reward Anfield’s little magician for the outstanding form he has produced so far this term.

Since Coutinho last signed an extension two years ago his importance to the side has rocketed. He’s the club’s premier asset and deserves a contract which gives him parity with Liverpool’s highest wage earners.

Back in November, before ankle ligament damage kept him out for seven weeks, Coutinho was in the form of his life for both club and country.

No wonder the headline on the front page of Spanish newspaper Sport screamed ‘Objetivo Coutinho’. The Catalan publication claimed that he was Barcelona’s top transfer target.

Rumours were fuelled by the fact that he’s close friends with both Neymar and Suarez. Kopites feared that history would repeat itself.

But unlike Suarez before him, Coutinho has never shown any signs of agitating for a move away from Anfield.

“Liverpool feels like my home,” he told the ECHO earlier this season.

“I feel happy, settled and comfortable here with the city and the people.”

Coutinho has blossomed under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp. He wants to win trophies, he wants to play Champions League football, but there’s a genuine belief that he can achieve his ambitions by staying put.

Liverpool have a good relationship with his agent Kia Joorabchian, who also looks after Lucas Leiva.

Klopp has spoken previously about the importance of making Liverpool the ultimate destination rather than simply a stepping stone.

He’s determined to put a stop to the talent drain which has seen the likes of Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres and Suarez move on.

“You need to keep your key players,” Klopp told the ECHO.

“You have to create a situation where you are successful. A situation where everyone feels in a good way and we are strong enough and patient enough to keep them together.

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“We want to be a club in the future for sure whose players don’t want to leave. But it will only be possible with success and the atmosphere we create in and around the club.”

If Coutinho puts pen to paper and reaffirms his commitment to the cause, it would be a ringing endorsement of the direction the club is heading in under Klopp.

Still only 24, his best days are years ahead. Liverpool are right to do everything they can to ensure he spends them at Anfield.