Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho is back in the Premier League with Aston Villa. The Birmingham club have signed the Brazilian on loan until the end of the season. However, his departure isn’t enough for Barcelona to be able to register the ex-Manchester City striker Ferran Torres.
Coutinho joins from Barcelona, whom he signed for in 2018 for a whopping initial 105 million pounds fee, and will reunite with Steven Gerrard, with whom he shared the Liverpool dressing room 2013 and 2015 at Liverpool. The 29-year-old’s previous stint in England saw him make over 200 appearances for the Reds and score 54 goals.
Gerrard spoke highly of Coutinho upon the confirmation of his signing to the Aston Villa website and called him a serial winner – among other things.
“Sixty-three caps for Brazil, a serial winner, played for Barcelona, was incredible at Liverpool,”
Gerrard told the Villa website.
“I can understand why a lot of supporters up and down the country are speaking about him. I don’t think you get a nickname as a Magician if you’re not a special footballer. He’s someone I’ve got an incredible amount of respect for.”
“He won two league titles for Barcelona, he won two Copa del Reys. If you go and have a look at his Wiki page, you’ll see a serial winner wherever he’s been. I’ve got nothing but positive things to say about the player. He’s a friend of mine.”
Barcelona, meanwhile, confirmed via their website that Aston Villa have agreed to pay a part of Coutinho’s wages until the end of the season. Furthermore, the club confirmed to have included a ‘buy’ option in the loan deal, which as per Fabrizio Romano, stands at 40 million euros and is valid until June 2022.
However, Coutinho’s departure isn’t enough to create sufficient room in the Barcelona wage budget, meaning that their wait to register new signing Ferran Torres goes on, reports Marca. The Spanish giants paid a fee of 55 million euro to City earlier in January to sign the 21-year-old on a six-year deal.
