Villa gets their man in Coutinho

Aston Villa have moved swiftly to secure the permanent transfer of Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho.

Villa have been able to secure Coutinho’s services for £17 million, with his contract running until 2026. Coutinho will return to English football permanently following his departure from Liverpool to Barcelona in January 2018.

Coutinho was sold to Barcelona for a whopping £142 million and it’s a sign of how desperate Barcelona are to rebalance their finances that they have accepted a huge loss to simply get the Brazilian’s wages off their books.

It’s been reported that Coutinho has agreed to take a wage cut to make his move permanent.

Coutinho has been reunited with his former teammate Steven Gerrard at Villa Park and his loan move has been successful. He has found the back of the net four times and provided three assists. Although, he has come off the boil recently and has struggled to make an impact in his last eight matches, something which might worry the Villa faithful.

Aston Villa have made no secrets of their desire to compete and finish amongst the top six. Despite the loss of Jack Grealish, Villa have shown they aren’t afraid to spend money and spend it quickly.

The capture of Coutinho shows that Villa are ready to take the next step. It will be up to Coutinho to try and make that happen.