Friend of Philippe Coutinho speaks out about Aston Villa transfer speculation
Philippe Coutinho will not be joining Besiktas as a move away from Aston Villa still looks likely, according to Josef de Souza.
Souza, who spent three years at the Turkish club before recently leaving, is a childhood friend of the 31-year-old Villa midfielder after the pair came through at Vasco da Gama together.
He tweeted on 27 July that Coutinho would not be joining Besiktas despite the club’s best efforts to sign him as the Brazilian has “other plans”.
“We did our best, but it was not possible,” said De Souza. “Besiktas tried and tried, Ceyhun did what he could. This time my friend will not go to Turkey, he has other plans and I respect him.”
Exit still likely
Although it wasn’t to be this time for Coutinho, De Souza’s tweet suggests an exit from Villa is still very much on the cards for his friend this summer.
It sounds as though Besiktas did all they could to get a deal over the line, as they were reportedly looking to land the Brazilian on loan.
But the fact the tweet says Coutinho has other plans means he will probably be moving on from Villa Park after struggling to make an impact since Unai Emery joined the club in October, having made just 22 appearances and scoring one goal last season.
It seems likely that the Villans probably won’t stand in his way if he wants to leave, as that could potentially bring in a transfer fee and it would be one of the high earners off the wage bill.
It seems like it’s only a matter of time before he will be leaving the club and that’s probably the best case scenario for all the parties involved.
In other Aston Villa news, the club should be looking to keep hold of Emiliano Martinez amid links to a CL side.