Clubs: FC Internazionale Milano, CR Vasco da Gama (loan)

• An exciting two-footed attacking midfielder, Coutinho was spotted by Inter while playing for Vasco da Gama's youth team and was bought at the age of 16 for €4m before being loaned back to the Rio de Janeiro-based club for two seasons, helping them win promotion to the Brazilian top flight.

• Scored three goals as Brazil won the 2009 South American Under-17 Championship and made his full international debut in a 3-0 victory against Iran on 7 October 2010.

• Made his Inter debut in the UEFA Super Cup defeat by Club Atlético de Madrid (0-2) in August 2010 and quickly won the faith of then coach Rafael Benítez, who regularly deployed him as a left winger in a three-pronged attack.

• Appeared in four UEFA Champions League group matches, shining with his skill and vision in a 4-0 defeat of SV Werder Bremen, and played in ten out of the first 12 Serie A games of the season before injury prematurely ended his involvement in November 2010.

• That injury, a right thigh strain, caused him to miss the FIFA Club World Cup victory as well as Brazil's appearance at the South American Under-20 Championship, but he returned to training in January 2011.