Stan Collymore: Aston Villa should thank Philippe Coutinho and move him on
Stan Collymore has urged Aston Villa not to make Barcelona forward Philippe Coutinho’s loan deal at the club permanent.
The 29-year-old took the Premier League by storm when making the move in January with seven-goal involvements in eight games.
With the former Bayern Munich man’s form petering out of late, Collymore has urged the Villans boss to not sign him permanently in the summer.
“If we are regularly sixth to eighth and want a dozen games of ‘extra special’ then it’s worth the injury/goes missing risk,” Collymore told Birmingham Live.
“When you’re competing to get into the top half, fees and wages are better resources elsewhere.
“Thank him and move on.”
Huge risk.
It all depends on what he does from now until the end of the season. Anyone can come in after several horror spells at clubs and have a lift in form under the management of an old friend and teammate but doing it consistently is something different.
It is quite worrying that his spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich all started quite well and finished horribly. That won’t fill any of the Lions fans with confidence at all.
With that being said, he loves the Premier League and knows it very well from his rather successful time at Liverpool which might help him change his fortune.
The Brazil international is certainly the type of player that the Villans need as they prepare themselves for a rebuild under Gerrard but his previous history, as well as the massive fees that he would cost, are very worrying.
Spreading that money out on several players to strengthen the overall squad might be a better idea as Collymore states but Gerrard seems to be a big fan of the midfield maestro which is the all-important factor.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans might have to pay £40million to sign Yves Bissouma from Brighton