Jordan Henderson believes Liverpool hit the big time by tying Philippe Coutinho down to a new long-term contract after the Brazilian helped plot the downfall of Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

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Coutinho’s dazzling display and other classy recent performances will not have gone unnoticed among Europe’s biggest clubs as boss Brendan Rodgers admitted it was “frightening” to think what the 22-year-old – who cost £8.5 million (Dh48.1m) from Internazionale in 2013 – could be worth.

Likened to midfield marvels such as Real Madrid duo Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, but also a threat further forward, Coutinho signed a five-year deal last month to ward off suitors including the Spanish giants.

And, having lost Luis Suarez to Barcelona last summer, Reds stand-in captain Henderson said: “He has just signed a long-term contract, which is big for the club. You have to keep him for as long as you can here.

“He is unbelievable really, the quality that he has got. He is exactly the same in training as what you see on the pitch. He works ever so hard and he has got a great mentality.

“He can go as high as he wants [in the game]. He is a massive player for us.”

Henderson’s own spectacular strike against City to open the scoring was surpassed by Coutinho’s 75th-minute winner. But he admits more performances like this from the team as a whole will help them finish in the top four again. And Henderson says Liverpool have got second-placed City in their sights, too. 

Just seven points now separate Manuel Pellegrini’s men and the Reds in fifth, with Arsenal and Manchester United also in the battle for Champions League places.

Henderson says the Reds will use last year’s bitter experience – where they dropped from first to third in a dramatic season finale – as fuel for a challenge of trying to win their last 11 games.

“I think we have just got to aim to win every game – and I think we have got the ability to do that,” he said.

“It’s always possible [to catch City]. The main thing to do would be to concentrate on ourselves as much as we can, keep the momentum going and see where it takes us really.

“We finished strongly last year, we won 12 of our last 14 games, but we just missed out. That was disappointing, but we have learned a lot and hopefully we can use that experience in the last 11 games and give it a real go and win as many games as we can.

“We have got a good enough squad to be doing that but we just have to make sure that we don’t get too carried away with the result.”

What made Liverpool’s win even more remarkable was that the team only arrived back from Istanbul – following their Europa League exit at the hands of Besiktas – at around 04:30 on Friday.

“We were all disappointed to go out of the Europa League and then we only had a short spell of time to turn it around,” added Henderson, who missed that game along with Coutinho. “That is always difficult, but I thought we dealt with it really well. 

“We were outstanding, but we just have to keep going. Wednesday is another big game and we have to focus on getting the job done against Burnley.”