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Cape Town - With Philippe Coutinho agitating to force through a move to Barcelona, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard says he owes the club another year.
The Brazilian is now in his fifth season at Anfield, where he has become a star player, since joining from Inter Milan in 2012.
"I know the kid, I know he's not a bad person, I know he doesn't want to cause a war to come out," Gerrard told BT Sport.
"But at the end of the day he's just signed a five-year deal, the club have been superb to him and made him the player he is.
"You remember he was struggling at Inter. We gave him the chance, we built this player up. The least he can do is give the club another year."
Gerrard has painted Barca as the bad guys, threatening to end their interest in the player if he doesn’t push through a move during this transfer window.
"The problem here are Barcelona," he added. "Because they will be saying to Coutinho's representatives: 'It's now or never. If he doesn't come now, we're never coming back for him ever again.'
"This kid who has come from South America has always had a dream of playing for Barcelona, and he's panicking thinking that if he doesn't do it now it'll never happen again.
"So they're piling the pressure on and that's why Philippe's reacted."
