Philippe Coutinho in £5m route plan out of Aston Villa nightmare
The latest Aston Villa transfer news as forgotten man Philippe Coutinho is linked with a £5m permanent summer move away from Villa Park
A fresh report in Brazil suggests Philippe Coutinho could make a return to his homeland from Aston Villa this summer, with Vasco da Gama interested.
Coutinho, 31, has endured a tough period at Villa. After initially taking to the Premier League well again under former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard with five goals and three assists, he found consistent form hard to come by.
He has spent time away from Unai Emery's Champions League-qualifying squad this season, playing on loan for Qatari outfit Al-Duhail SC. He has managed 20 matches for the club, scoring six and assisting three.
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However with his year almost up in the Gulf state, a return to his parent club will be due. There will then be the matter of settling whether he has a future at Villa Park, though that decision may be made a whole lot easier to all involved should his boyhood club enter the fold with an offer.
TNT Sports Brazil claim that Vasco da Gama are interested in at first loaning Coutinho with a view to making the transfer permanent in 2025, for a fee in the region of £4m to £6m.
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It would be a return to old surroundings for the Brazil international, as it is where he spent nine of his years in youth football before going on to forge a career in Europe. That began with a £3.2m switch to Inter Milan which included a year's loan back to the Estadio Sao Januario, where he scored five in 43 appearances.
He has also been mooted with a reunion of former Liverpool and Barcelona teammates in the MLS to close out his career. Coutinho played with Luis Suarez at Anfield and Camp Nou, and also linked up with Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba at the latter. All four now play for Florida-based franchise Inter Miami.