Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City hire private jet for Brazil stars

Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have teamed up in order to wing their Brazil stars back to Europe on a private jet as soon as possible after their latest round of World Cup qualifiers.

Brazil were in action in the early hours of Wendesday morning, beating Peru 2-0 in Lima to maintain their lead in South America's World Cup qualifying tournament, and several members of the squad were on their way back to Europe soon after the final whistle aboard a specially-chartered aircraft.

Liverpool pair Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino were due to be on board the plane along with Willian and David Luis of Chelsea, Man City midfielder Fernandinho and PSG's Thiago Silva.

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According to the Liverpool Echo, the league leaders hope that "hiring a private jet to rush their Brazilian stars back to Merseyside will allow them to take part on an extra training session ahead of the weekend trip to Southampton.

"Brazil pair Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino need to make their way back from qualifiers in South America and the Reds are hoping their £30,000 outlay on a chartered plane will be money well spent."

The four clubs have split the £120,000 cost of hiring a gulfstream jet, says the paper, and all the players should be back with their clubs on Wednesday night, UK time.

"If Liverpool's players had used scheduled airline flights they'd have faced long delays," says the paper. It would have meant changing planes in the US, or waiting 24 hours for a direct BA flight, which would not have arrived at Gatwick, in southern England, until Thursday afternoon.

There is more good news for Liverpool, with Firmino an unused sub for the game, while Chelsea will be pleased that Willian only came on for the final seven minutes of the match.

The idea also appears to have irked Liverpool's old rivals. Manchester United, who must wait for their South American stars to come back under their own steam. "During the last international break in September, Jose Mourinho criticised Manchester United for failing to arrange similar travel plans for their South American contingent," reports Metro.

"Antonio Valencia, Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero arrived back from international duty just 24 hours before the derby defeat to Manchester City after travelling via commercial airlines."