Philippe Coutinho to quit Aston Villa in summer as transfer option emerges – BBC pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton expects Philippe Coutinho to leave Aston Villa in the summer transfer window with a move to Brazil potentially on the cards.
In December, Goal reported that the 30-year-old playmaker wanted to leave Villa Park and that Corinthians were interested in signing him on a permanent basis.
Coutinho went on to dismiss speculation that he was looking to quit the Villans [BBC Sport] but since the World Cup break ended, the Brazilian has played just eight Premier League games, starting just once
He’s been injured since scoring in the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal on 18 February but out of the eight games he’s missed, Villa are unbeaten and have won an incredible 22 points from the available 24.
Hutton expects to see the former Liverpool attacker move on in the summer because it’s unlikely he has a future at Villa Park under Unai Emery.
“It wouldn’t surprise me [if Villa cut their losses on Coutinho],” Hutton told Villa News.
“He’s an outstanding football and yes, he kind of lost his way at Barcelona and at Bayern Munich, it didn’t quite work out.
“Steven Gerrard took quite a sizeable risk bringing him in because we didn’t know what form he was going to show and he was probably on huge wages as well.
“I think a good option for him is to maybe look to go back over to Brazil because something in me doesn’t see his future being at Aston Villa.”
Coutinho initially joined Villa on loan from Barcelona in January 2022 before his move was made permanent in the summer.
He’s played 41 times in all competitions for the Villans, scoring six goals and supplying three assists.
In other Aston Villa news, we can exclusively reveal that Manchester United are set to sign this highly-rated Villa player.