Aston Villa told to terminate Philippe Coutinho contract as Fabrizio Romano drops news
Dan Bardell believes Philippe Coutinho terminating his contract at Aston Villa will be beneficial for both parties this summer.
The Brazilian looks set to depart Villa Park on a permanent basis after spending this season on loan with Al-Duhail in Qatar.
Fabrizio Romano reported (26 May) that Vasco da Gama are interested in signing Coutinho with talks said to be advancing with him keen on the move.
Sky Sports and talkSPORT journalist Bardell believes his Villa tenure has been a failure and cutting all ties makes sense ahead of the summer transfer window.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “If he wasn’t going to make it at Villa for a Conference League campaign, with Villa’s ambitions next season he’s not going to fit in with what Emery wants to achieve.
“He’s proved to be a very expensive mistake. He gave us some fun moments but overall it’s not worked out and Villa can’t afford to carry that sort of wage.
“If they can terminate his contract early and get those wages off the books, that will really help with PSR. I think if they can get him gone I think it would be a good thing and something I hope gets done early so everyone knows where they stand.“
End of the road for Philippe Coutinho at Aston Villa
When Villa signed Coutinho there was a level of excitement around the club at the time which was infectious.
The Brazilian was famed for his time with Liverpool and had just come off the back of a Champions League triumph with Bayern Munich.
It didn’t go to plan at Barcelona after a £100m plus move although he did have to contest with Lionel Messi in his time there.
His initial loan spell with the Villans was electric at times which saw him score five in his opening 19 games for the club [FotMob].
This saw Villa take up their option to sign him permanently for £17m [Sky Sports] which has proved to be a mistake.
Since then it has all been downhill with just one goal and an eventual loan to Qatar this summer with a lack of minutes to be available.
Now with the Champions League on the horizon, prioritising PSR is pivotal and losing Coutinho is going to play its part in that.
In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell questions ‘cloak-and-dagger’ behaviour as ‘bizarre’ Villa Park move takes place.
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