Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that despite the rumours, Aston Villa will not be able to sign Philippe Coutinho and Paul Pogba in the summer.
Coutinho has been superb since signing for Villa on loan from Barcelona in January, having scored four goals and registered three assists, and Steven Gerrard may be keen to get him in the door on a permanent deal in the summer.
Meanwhile, Pogba is now featuring in his sixth season for Manchester United since returning to Old Trafford, but there have been reports that Aston Villa and Newcastle United are interested in his signature ahead of the summer transfer window.
With the reports that Pogba is on the Villans’ radar and Coutinho may well be wanted on a permanent deal in the summer, Jones spoke to GiveMeSport and highlighted the chances of both players signing at Villa Park in the upcoming transfer window.
He said: “I don’t feel that Aston Villa are in the situation where they can sign Paul Pogba and Coutinho in the summer to these kinds of contracts.”
TIF Thoughts on Dean Jones’ comments…
Coutinho has a market value of £18m according to Transfermarkt and has shown his capabilities this term for Villa. He has seven goal contributions in the Premier League so far, has an average of 2.5 shots per game and has an average passing accuracy of 83%, as per SofaScore.
Villa will surely be keen to get the Brazilian in on a permanent deal in the summer, but to get Paul Pogba in the door as well may be a bridge too far for Gerrard. Although Pogba’s contract does expire at the end of the season, he is reportedly on £290,000 per week, and unless he is willing to take a pay cut, this price seems far too high for Villa.
Pogba is still only 29 years old, so with all due respect to Villa, if managed correctly, he could sign for a club of a much higher stature that plays in the Champions League.
That means fans would likely end up disappointed amid the rumours flying around, though given their heavy outlay on transfers in the past 12 months, to add two more top-tier talents to their ranks in one summer would perhaps always be a tough ask.