Aston Villa have been in talks with Barcelona over Philippe Coutinho. Villa are insistent on making a permanent deal for Coutinho.
Coutinho arrived at Aston Villa in the winter transfer window. He has impressed the hierarchy at Villa Park. Villa have been playing good, attractive football and are bringing positive results under Steven Gerrard. Coutinho and Gerrard have an interesting history together as they used to play together at Liverpool.
Barcelona loaned Coutinho out with the option to buy at the end of the season. The Brazilian has a measly price of 33m compared to the 150m when he arrived at Camp Nou. Coutinho had failed to impress the Spanish giants and had received a lot of stick for it. He was loaned out to Bayern Munich in 2020 where he was able to find his old self. A poor string of performances in the following season has caused Barcelona to loan him. Aston Villa wants him and Barcelona wants to offload him which unironically makes this a match made in heaven.
Ever since arriving at Villa Park, he has scored 4 goals and 3 assists in his 10 appearances. Two of his goals came against Manchester United where he ensured they drew the match. Interestingly, only two players have had more goal involvements than Coutinho in the entire season. Coutinho is willing to take a pay cut to be at Aston Villa.
What influenced Coutinho?
Coutinho had earlier said that Steven Gerrard influenced his decision to make a move to Liverpool.
“I spoke a lot with the manager, with Stevie, and he told me about the club and his ambitions. I’m very happy to be here and I’m looking to enjoy my football.
I’ve known Stevie for a long time. I played with him and I learned a lot from him
He’s someone who I have big admiration for. I hope to do my best here. For sure, I will work hard, and I hope together we can do good work.”
Follow us on Twitter for more Football Updates.
For more sports updates, make sure to follow us on:
