Aston Villa should cash in on Coutinho to launch Lee Kang-in move

Following a successful initial loan spell at the club in the second half of the previous season, Aston Villa ended up securing a permanent deal for Philippe Coutinho last summer for a fee of £17m. 

Despite only being a few months into his four year deal at the Midlands club, the attacker has found himself being linked with a move back to Brazil in recent weeks following a rather underwhelming start to the current season.

Specifically, having appeared in 15 league games this season, the 30-year-old, who is one of Villa’s top earners with a weekly wage of £125k-per-week has yet to find himself on the scoresheet or even provide an assist for any of his teammates.

His overall performances have earned him a rather disappointing season rating of 6.32/10 from WhoScored, making him one of the lowest-rated players at the club that has started at least one game.

With that in mind, cashing in on the Brazilian may look a tad unusual on paper given how he’s only just become a permanent Villa player, but if Unai Emery can use whatever money NSWE can potentially get for him to bring in a suitable replacement this month, this could be the best option for all parties.

One player that the Villans have been linked with recently that we feel could be worth selling Coutinho to but is Mallorca attacker Lee Kang-in.

In addition to scoring two goals and providing three assists in 16 La Liga appearances this season, the 21-year-old has racked up more key passes (27), successful dribbles (23) and shot-creating actions (50) than any other player at Mallorca.

His performances have earned the South Korean an overall season rating of 6.9/10 from WhoScored, making him the second-highest-rated player at the club, which highlights how impressive he has been in this campaign compared to Coutinho.

Having also been hailed for his “phenomenal” performances in the recent World Cup by journalist David Cartlidge, this further showcases how much of an exciting signing he’d be for Villa.

Taking all of this into account, it’s clear that Lee has the capabilities to be a more effective player for Emery’s side than Coutinho has been so far, which makes us feel that selling the Brazilian this month to help launch a move for the Mallorca star would be a good move for the Villans.