Aston Villa are likely to receive another loan offer from Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama in the near future as they look to resolve the immediate future of playmaker Philippe Coutinho.
Former Liverpool and Barcelona star Coutinho, who joined Villa in 2022, headed home to Brazil last summer but their current league season hasn't long commenced.
Coutinho has scored four goals in ten appearances this term but their campaign runs until the end of 2025 and the existing contractual agreement with Villa only runs until the summer.
It's expected, then, that all parties will get around a table in the near future and revisit the arrangement.
Villa handed Coutinho, who'll turn 33 this summer, a four-year deal after he signed for Steven Gerrard after an initial six-month loan spell. From this coming summer, there'll still be a year left to run on that contract but it's likely that the player has played his final game for Villa.
Vasco's executive director of football Marcelo Sant’Ana has since confirmed that the club will explore the prospect of an extended stay in the summer, likely to be in the form of another loan move and with the assistance of Villa in terms of covering Coutinho's wages.
“We are also evaluating this with the player himself. Coutinho still has one more year on his contract with Aston Villa,” he said, via Sport Witness. “We know how important he is. He has already shown signs of growth this season.
"He had the opportunity to do a pre-season, to get in better condition. He is adapting and happy. If this story continues in a positive way in the middle of the year, we will definitely try to extend his contract.”
Coutinho came through the Vasco academy before leaving South America as a teenager in 2008. He left Italy to move to England when joining Liverpool in 2013 and then earned himself a £142m move to Barcelona in 2018.
Coutinho also had a spell with Qatari side Al-Duhail on loan before returning to Vasco.
