Emi Martinez, Tyrone Mings send Philippe Coutinho messages after Aston Villa exit
Emi Martinez and Tyrone Mings have reacted to a new message from Philippe Coutinho after Aston Villa made a final decision on his future at the club.
Coutinho was once a £146million [Sky Sports] player as he joined Barcelona from Liverpool in 2018, but today’s reality is quite different with age not on his side after he struggled to make an impact at the Catalan giants.
The Brazilian international joined Villa from Barca in 2022 for a much lower fee of £17m [BBC], after impressing in an initial six-month loan spell in the Second City.
He struggled to make an impact as a permanent fixture at Villa Park, however, and so was loaned out to Al-Duhail and boyhood club Vasco da Gama over the last two seasons.
Coutinho last played for Unai Emery’s side in August 2023, and former club chief Keith Wyness revealed to Football Insider on 2 July that Villa were looking to get Coutinho off the books this summer, but potentially faced a £5m pay-off of his wages.
Coutinho seals permanent move to Vasco da Gama
Coutinho has now left Villa for good, with the club announcing his official departure on their Instagram page on Friday, 4 July, saying: “Aston Villa can confirm that Philippe Coutinho has completed a permanent move to Vasco da Gama. Everyone at Aston Villa would like to thank Philippe for his service to the club and wish him all the best in his future career.”
Coutinho himself took to the social media site to issue a message to fans of his boyhood club, Vasco, where he has signed a one-year contract [BBC] following a loan spell last season, saying: “Muito FELIZ de poder continuar no clube que eu AMO. Que seja um ano Abençoado,” which translates to “Very HAPPY to be able to continue in the club I LOVE. May it be a Blessed year,” in English.
His post was reacted to by some of his now former Villa teammates, as Man United-linked goalkeeper Emi Martinez replied with praise and red heart emojis, while Tyrone Mings added: “Good luck mate.”
The likes of Matheus Cunha, Roberto Firmino, Jacob Ramsey, Ezri Konsa and Emi Buendia all also reacted to his message with likes, respectively.
Coutinho a costly mistake for Villa but it made sense at the time
Football Insider verdict
Coutinho’s exploits at Liverpool made him one of the best and most in-demand playmakers on the planet, as he shone over the course of six years at Anfield and helped the Reds return to being the dominant force that they are today.
He seemed well worth the British-record sale fee that Barcelona forked out to sign him in January 2018, but despite winning two La Liga titles, his best performance while contracted to the club arguably came against them in the Champions League for Bayern Munich.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 43 | 6 | 3 |
His move to Villa made sense on the face of it, with ex-Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard then at the helm and the club looking to progress in the Premier League.
Coutinho looked like the previous version of himself in his first six months at the club, as he bagged five times in 19 league games, but he was unable to continue in the same vein of form after his permanent move.
Villa definitely wasted their time and money in signing him on that full time deal for £17m, but while hindsight tells us it was a bad move, it certainly looked like the right one at the time as they aimed to compete near the top of the Premier League table.