The injury which caused Philippe Coutinho to miss the start of the season was caused by 'stress', according to a Brazilian doctor.

Coutinho has not played for Liverpool yet this term, amid intense interest in him from Barcelona, with the club citing a back problem as the reason.

However, the forward is expected to feature for Brazil against Ecuador this week, trained with the Selecao in Porto Alegre on Monday and, according to medical professional Michael Simoni, was simply suffering from an 'emotional' issue manifesting itself as back pain.

‘'Coutinho back problem? He is okay now. The back problem was a matter of stress, it was something emotional,' Simoni told Esporte after assessing Coutinho for half an hour in Rio on Monday.

'The uncertainty about his future led him to feeling stressed. Everything is solved now.

'Coutinho and I are friends since years, I always treat his medical cases. All he needed was someone to give him a pep talk.'

Simoni, who is the medical director at Fluminese, is the player's former personal doctor and he told ESPN Brazil that the pair discussed Coutinho's future, as Barcelona continue to up their bids for the 25-year-old.