Aston Villa would like to sign Philippe Coutinho on a permanent deal after how well he’s impressed on loan, but Simon Jordan questions whether it’s possible for the two parties to agree terms given his lofty salary demands.
The 29-year-old has scored four goals with three assists in nine Premier League games this season, creating 14 chances, making 16 successful dribbles, taking 24 shots with 41% hitting the target and winning eight freekicks.
Coutinho has scored as many league goals in two months at Villa as he did in his last two seasons at Barcelona, but the Brazilian international won’t be cheap to sign.
Coutinho earned £480k-per-week at the Camp Nou but is being paid just £125k-per-week by Villa. It’s hard to see the Midlands outfit paying him more money given no player is on more than the 29-year-old, so Jordan is right to question whether a move will materialise.
He said on talkSPORT (h/t Birmingham Live): “Interesting times for Villa. Do they make a rod for their own back and take a loan signing which makes really good sense, it was a really clever, sensible deal because it costs them nothing really.
“On paper (he’s) one of the best players in the world. He may not have set the world alight in Spain or Germany, but (he’s) still a very highly talented player. To get him on loan for 26 weeks was £4m or £5m (which) is nothing in Premier League spending.
“(But) it’s one thing taking him on loan, he might have been prepared to compromise some of his wages. The deal happened because of Gerrard too. The bottom line is they’ve made a situation where that kind of signing looks like the kind of signing Aston Villa will make going forward.”
Villa can sign Coutinho permanently for £33m before June, but can they agree personal terms? The 29-year-old’s wages would set the club back £25m over 12 months, so it’s hard to see Gerrard landing Coutinho’s signature unless he takes a big pay cut.
In other news, Kevin Campbell says Ollie Watkins could be sold this summer
