Philippe Coutinho completes permanent Aston Villa move
Aston Villa announced on Thursday that on-loan midfielder Philippe Coutinho completed a permanent move from FC Barcelona for an “undisclosed fee.”
Coutinho arrived in Birmingham in January on a six-month loan with a purchase option believed to be much higher than the £17m million Barcelona reports they’ve settled on with Villa.
Barcelona famously paid Liverpool £146 million for Coutinho in 2018 but the Brazilian international featured only 76 times for the Catalan club and spent the entire 2019-20 season on loan at Bayern Munich.
He won the Champions League with Bayern in 2019-20 and scored two goals in an 8-2 rout of Barcelona in the quarterfinals.
Since joining Villa, Coutinho has scored four times in 16 appearances and has helped rejuvenate the squad’s attacking prospects. His signing signals the club’s lofty intent to push on for European places next season.
Former Liverpool teammate and current Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard said of the signing: “this is a brilliant signing for Aston Villa. Phil is a model professional and his impact on the group has been very clear since he joined in January.
“As we look to build towards next season, it is incredible to work at a club that executes its business so decisively and smoothly.”
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