Aston Villa are said to be ready to terminate the contract of one of their senior stars. Unai Emery and his recruitment staff will already be working hard to put together a squad capable of not just competing in the Champions League but staking a serious claim to get through the group stages.
Villa enjoyed a superb season of last, but the coming season will bring a number of new challenges. Emery’s men must balance competing in the toughest competition in Europe with trying to secure more European qualification through the Premier League, which is likely to be even tougher in itself this season with the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United all vying to step up their game.
With that, Emery must attempt to add quality while dealing with Profit and Sustainability rules, and he must also make room by offloading unwanted players. One of those players is Philippe Coutinho, who joined Villa on a permanent deal in 2022 after an impressive loan spell, penning a four-year deal for a transfer fee of £17million.
The midfielder made 22 league appearances as a permanent Villa player before being sent out on loan to join Al-Duhail, making 16 league appearances there. According to GE Globo, Coutinho’s time at Villa will now come to an end for good. It’s claimed the midfielder will rejoin boyhood club Vasco da Gama back in Brazil having come through the club’s academy before joining Inter Milan in 2008. He is already said to have agreed contract terms.
Interestingly, it’s reported that Villa have agreed to mutually terminate Coutinho’s contract for him to return to Brazil, meaning they will miss out on any transfer fee, losing their £17million investment within the space of two years. Although, the trade-off is that they will save another two years of wages that would be due to Coutinho if he remained on their books.
When Coutinho left on loan last summer, Emery said: “He (Coutinho) is close to leaving, but we are waiting to see if the deal is complete or not. Philippe is a very good person and always we have to respect him as a person, firstly.
“Secondly, as a player, he has played at a very high level. He has not been consistent because of injuries and we decided with him speaking and agreeing with him to try that if something is good for him, and good for the club, and for the squad, we can let him leave. Then he can find his good performance as a player. Then it’s whether he completes it or not.”
Coutinho’s best form came at Liverpool, but his career took a big dip when he joined Barcelona for more than £100million. Asked his he regretted the decision to join Barca earlier this year, the Brazilian said: “Things didn’t go as I imagined, as people expected, as I expected because I am the first to demand myself in the field. I tried everything, I have always been very professional and I do not regret anything.”
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