Philippe Coutinho has impressed since joining Aston Villa on loan from Barcelona and could turn the move permanent at the end of the season, but Paul Merson doesn’t believe the 29-year-old will be signed in the coming months.
Coutinho has scored two goals and made two assists from six games, creating eight chances, making nine successful dribbles, taking 14 shots with 35% hitting the target, being fouled six times and making four tackles. He was given a player rating of 7/10 by Birmingham Live for a decent performance in last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion too.
Merson wrote in his Sportskeeda column: “It’s probably a little early to speak about this, but it’ll be interesting to see if Villa exercise the option to sign Philippe Coutinho permanently. I’m not sure if they will.
“I’m saying that because they already have Emiliano Buendia, who is also a #10. I personally don’t think they can play together, but we’ll have to wait and see how the situation develops between now and the end of the season.”
Villa are paying £125k-per-week/£6.5m-a-year towards Coutinho’s wages and have the option to sign him permanently for less than €40m (£33m) this summer, but there’s no guarantee a deal will get over the line.
The Brazilian international, who has 19 goals and 11 assists from 66 games for his country, will turn 30 in June and is in the tail-end of his career, so there’d be little resale value. It’s also a gamble for Villa, because Coutinho has struggled ever since leaving Liverpool in 2018, so Merson makes a good point.
Steven Gerrard might want an upgrade on Buendia, however, as the 25-year-old has only scored two goals and made three assists in 24 games.
In other news, Paul Merson says ‘under-the-radar’ Ezri Konsa ‘has a bright future’
