Philippe Coutinho has joined Aston Villa on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season according to a club statement. The agreement is subject to him obtaining a work permit and passing a medical – he’ll travel to Birmingham in the coming hours.
Coutinho will join Villa until the end of the season, with an option to buy included of £33m according to Phil McNulty. It’s an option to buy, however, not an obligation.
It’s understood that Villa will pay 65% of his wages, and the presence of his former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard in the Villa dugout is thought to have been key in his decision.
But Coutinho also has his mind on the Brazilian national team. The 28-year-old wants to make it into Tite’s squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and he needs to be playing much more often than he currently is if he’s to do that. Brazil are pretty good.
Barcelona will be delighted to have finally sealed the deal. They signed Coutinho for a club-record fee from Liverpool in January of 2018, but the playmaker has never performed at Camp Nou.
By getting his wage off the books, the powers-that-be at Barcelona have freed up the financial space they needed to register Ferran Torres, who they’ve signed from Manchester City.
Aston Villa have an option to buy Philippe Coutinho for £33m at the end of his loan period – but this is an option not an obligation.
— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) January 7, 2022
