Coutinho joins Villa on loan until end of season
The Barcelona midfielder will reunite with former teammate Steven Gerrard
Last updated 7th Jan 2022
Barcelona attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho will join Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season.
The West Midlands club confirmed the transfer today, with the deal subject to Coutinho completing his medical and receiving a work permit.
The agreement also includes an option to buy the Brazilian, who will fly to Birmingham in the next 48hrs to meet up with the squad and reunite with former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard.
Coutinho left Liverpool in 2018 for a club-record fee, signing for Barcelona for £146m, but struggled to consistently play at the Camp Nou and signed on loan for Bayern Munich during the 2019/20 season.
The Spanish giants confirmed that Villa would pay part of Coutinho's wages, and fans hope the skilful attacker can help fill the void that Jack Grealish left, after the former captain joined Man City for £100m during the summer.
Coutinho is Steven Gerrard's first signing as Villa manager, and said yesterday (Thursday 6 January) that he's a "serial winner".
"He's won two league titles at Barcelona, two Copa del Reys", the Villa boss said.
"If you go and have a look at his Wiki page you'll see a serial winner wherever he goes.
"He's won 63 caps for Brazil, played for Barcelona and was incredible at Liverpool.
"So I can understand why he's linked to a lot of football clubs. I can understand why a lot of supporters up and down the country are speaking about him.
"I don't think you get a nickname of 'The Magician' if you're not a special footballer."