Fabrizio Romano has delivered an interesting update on the future of Philippe Coutinho at Aston Villa while speaking on the Que Golazo YouTube channel.
Aston Villa managed to pull off one of the biggest coups of the January transfer window when they prised Coutinho away from Barcelona to Villa Park on loan until the end of the season and he instantly proved he still had plenty to offer in the Premier League with two goals and two assists in his first three league matches.
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However, Coutinho’s poor recent individual form has coincided with the side’s pretty disastrous run of recent form – zero wins in their last five league matches – which has seen them slide dangerously close to the relegation scrap.
With Villa still not mathematically safe, it’s unlikely they’ll be making many summer transfer plans just yet, and this includes the future of Coutinho, as Romano spoke about.
He said: “Then there is Philippe Coutinho – that started in a fantastic way with Aston Villa, but now it’s time for the decision. The last check I did last week, the answer I received is: still nothing decided on Aston Villa’s side. The real point is about the salary, because the salary of Philippe Coutinho is a really huge one.”
TIF Thoughts on Coutinho’s future…
The Brazilian has made a reasonable impact at Villa Park, however, with reports suggesting that he is currently on a £480,000-per-week salary, just seven goal involvements probably don’t justify the Midlands side breaking the bank for the attacker.
If Coutinho wants to make his move to Aston Villa permanent and continue his playing days under former teammate Steven Gerrard, he may well have to take a sizeable wage decrease, which may not be something he’s willing to do, while he may also have ambitions to play European football – something that won’t be on offer next season at Villa Park.
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