Philippe Coutinho: Aston Villa tipped to blow transfer rivals away ‘in a heartbeat’ – McLeish
Alex McLeish has suggested Aston Villa could beat rival suitors to Philippe Coutinho’s permanent signature “in a heartbeat”.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Villa boss suggested the Midlands giants have the financial clout to blow other interested parties out the water.
An Aston Villa source told Football Insider on Thursday (10 February) the club have a £33.7million option to buy Coutinho after his temporary arrival from Barcelona last month.
It is understood Steven Gerrard wants the board to trigger the deal after pushing for his capture in January.
Rival interest could pose an obstacle for Villa in their pursuit of a permanent deal.
However, McLeish suggested the Villans must be favourites for his capture.
McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “Let’s face it, England has the richest league in the world in the Premier League.
“They can do it in a heartbeat. Other clubs would probably find it a little bit difficult to find those kinds of sums.
“Barcelona, he’s not going to go back there, is he? Could he do a Real Madrid or an Italian job, if you’ll pardon the pun?
“I think no. Listen, I think he’ll stay at Aston Villa. That is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things when you think of transfers nowadays.”
Coutinho has scored twice and contributed two assists in four Aston Villa appearances.
He has 156 Premier League games under his belt after his time at Liverpool.
In other news, Alan Hutton has revealed what John McGinn has said about Aston Villa sensation in training.