‘Aston Villa reach Philippe Coutinho agreement – it’s come to an end’
Aston Villa could be facing a major £5million payment in order to get outcast Philippe Coutinho off their books.
The 33-year-old has spent the last two seasons out on loan, having spells at Al-Duhail and Vasco Da Gama respectively.
With the likes of Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers, and John McGinn in his ranks, Unai Emery does not see Coutinho as part of his future plans.
The Brazilian hasn’t played a single minute for Villa since August 2023, and it looks like his time at the Birmingham-based club has come to an end.
Aston Villa’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has revealed that it will cost his old club to send the former Barcelona man on his way.
‘Villa made expensive Coutinho mistake’, says Wyness
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that the purchase of Coutinho had been an “expensive mistake” for Villa.
Steven Gerrard brought the midfielder to the Midlands back in 2022 for a fee of around £17million, but he made just 43 appearances for the Villans.
Wyness added that it would cost the club £5m to pay off the former Liverpool star’s wages.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I think he’s going to go back to Brazil, back to Vasco da Gama it appears.
“It will probably cost around the five million mark to actually pay up some of his wages, but they’ll be able to get his wages off the balance sheet, and obviously that’s a key thing for them.
“I think that will be a good deal for all parties concerned.
“Coutinho was not perhaps the right decision and it’s been an expensive mistake. Even though they’ve got him out on loan a couple of times, he hasn’t performed at Villa and he hasn’t performed anywhere he’s been since.
“No doubt in his heyday at Liverpool he was a great player but I think that’s one that you mark down in the negative column.
“It looks like it’s come to an end. I think all parties will be happy. Move on.”
‘Tottenham make move to sign Ramsey’
Tottenham are reportedly plotting a move to sign Aston Villa star Ramsey after making contact with his agent about a potential deal.
That is according to former Villa scout Mick Brown, who claimed that the 24-year-old would be open to the move to kickstart his career.
Thomas Frank is believed to be a big fan of the midfielder, while he has been a long-term target for Spurs’ recruitment team who have been tracking him all season.
This comes after Football Insider exclusively revealed in May that Ramsey is “unhappy” at Villa and would be open to a move for more regular starts.
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