The agent of Philippe Coutinho has lifted the lid on the Brazillian’s move to Aston Villa and he has suggested that a permanent Premier League move is “very realistic”.
Coutinho spent five years at Liverpool between 2013 and 2018. During this spell, he established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League.
His form earned him a move to Barcelona in 2018. The Spanish giants spent an initial fee of around £105m to sign him.
Villa and Coutinho is a gamble, but it might just pay off
On the whole, Coutinho struggled at Barcelona and he had a loan spell at Bayern Munich in 2019/20.
Ahead of the January transfer window, the midfielder was linked with a return to the Premier League.
Aston Villa fended off competition to sign him on loan until the summer. Their deal for him includes an option to buy.
Coutinho is set to reunite with Steven Gerrard at Villa. His agent (Kia Joorabchian) has revealed that the move to Villa “was done and dusted” once Coutinho spoke with Gerrard:
“Once Steven and Phillippe had spoken with each other, that was done and dusted,” Joorabchian told talkSPORT.
“Because obviously they know each other quite well for many years and they’re good friends. When they spoke about the way that Aston Villa has grown over the last few years and where Steven wants to take them and what Phillip is going to do provide. I think that was the end of that, it was quite fast to be honest.”
Joorabchian went onto suggest that a permanent return to the Premier League for Coutinho is “very realistic”:
“I think so. The last couple of years we’ve been quite realistic in how we’ve done things and I think Phil is another very good example of the reason to come here is to take that step and hopefully get a permanent move in the Premier League, so I think it’s very realistic.
“They [Aston Villa] picked up a proportion of the wages, but I think what is more important is that Phil has given up a proportion of his wages, and the reason that he’s done that is that he wants to come back in the Premier League and he wants to play with Steven, and he wants to play at Villa.
“There were other clubs that offered the full wages but it was more about the football side of it.”