Ex-Liverpool and England star Emile Heskey is proclaimed that Philippe Coutinho has the talent to match Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. 

Heskey’s praise for the midfielder came following the 24-year-old’s superb brace as Liverpool held off Arsenal to record a 4-3 victory in their opening Premier League game of the  season.

‘I think he’s got just as much ability as them [Ronaldo and Messi] and we’ve seen it in spurts. We need to see it more on a constant level now. His skills are phenomenal,’ Heskey told Omnisport.

‘I’ve seen it when he was at Inter and some of the videos that you see from there in training … wow. He’s a phenomenal player.’

The former striker went on to praise the young star’s vision and his awareness while on the ball, suggesting the quality of player meant he was of vital importance to Liverpool.

‘Those players come round only once in a lifetime really. He’s a phenomenal player. That’s why he’s going to have teams interested in him, but he is a massively important player to Liverpool.’

‘[He’s] still young now to be fair, but he needs to take it to that next level. I believe he can do that, but it’s a mentality thing not a talent thing. Mentality wise that’s where we have to question it,’ Heskey concluded.

Liverpool’s next match in the Premier League is against Burnley on Saturday.

The fixture will take place at Turf Moor.

Kick-off is at 16:00.