Aston Villa should still sanction Philippe Coutinho sale despite 50% Barcelona clause in contract
Philippe Coutinho has had a desperately disappointing time at Aston Villa this season, but if the club were hoping to recoup their £17million outlay this summer with his sale, they look to have been mistaken.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona inserted a 50% sell-on clause into Coutinho’s contract at Villa Park, which would mean the Spanish giants get half of any capital gains made on the 30-year-old in the future.
With Villa likely to already struggle for lucrative suitors in the summer, after the lack of game time Coutinho has had this season, his sale for any kind of profit looks relatively unlikely.
With Unai Emery expected to be given a war chest to attack the upcoming transfer window with by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, Coutinho may still be an expendable asset, despite the 50% clause in his contract.
After a bright start to life at Villa Park under Steven Gerrard during his initial loan spell, Coutinho’s form has spiralled out of control this term, netting just one goal and providing zero assists from 20 appearances.
As per the Opta-powered stats on FBREF, the South American is in the 24th percentile of attacking midfielders for non-penalty goals over the last year while sitting in the bottom 3% of attackers for expected assists per game.
Coutinho’s attacking numbers, in comparison to his main competitor Emi Buendia further highlights the need for Aston Villa to sell him this summer, even if they don’t bank a profit.
Buendia has registered over double the number of key passes per game than the former Barcelona man (1 v 0.4) while attempting more shots on goal (1.2 v 1.1) and gaining a far superior WhoScored player rating average over the course of the season (6.73 v 6.37). [WhoScored]
The struggling playmaker has also averaged a meagre 17.9 passes this season against Buendia’s 27, clearly highlighting his stark issues impacting games on a regular basis this season.
TalkSPORT (5 February) reported earlier this year that Turkish giants Galatasaray were lining up an escape route for Coutinho with an initial loan move with an option to buy, but no deal was ever struck.
If Aston Villa have any sense, they will ignore the frustrating 50% clause in his contract and look for potential suitors this summer.
In other Aston Villa news, Danny Mills was completely wrong about a “terrible” Villa player after his recent transformation under Emery.