As Phillipe Coutinho smiles again in the Premier League, Barcelona are also happy to see the midfielder’s upturn in form which will also benefit the Camp Nou club should it continue.
New Aston Villaboss Steven Gerrard is bringing out the best of Coutinho, who has scored two goals and provided two assists from three games, with the pair on excellent terms especially since they were teammates at Liverpool
Barcelona are crossing their fingers the 29-year-old can carry on in this manner for the remainder of the season, as it will put them in a stronger position when the summer transfer window opens.
Coutinho is playing with freedom away from the Camp Nou. His loan spell at Bayern Munich saw him play 39 matches, where he scored 11 goals and 14 assists. However, Bayern Munich didn’t want to pay the 120 million euros to sign the player on a permanent deal.
Under Gerrard, Coutinho is playing at his best as he feels comfortable and valued, something he never felt at Barcelona.
“It was a vintage Philippe Coutinho tonight,” said Gerrard following Aston Villa‘s 3-3 draw with Leeds.
“He’s getting closer to when everyone was talking about him. Every time [he plays] he will get better, so it’s a joy to work with him.”
Coutinho outside Barcelona
Aston Villa have an option to buy Coutinho for 40 million euros, which Barcelona would be satisfied with as they want to get rid of the Brazilian given he is one of the highest paid players at the club.
In addition, Barcelona want to stop him from leaving for free when his contract expires in 2023, with Coutinho not part of Xavi Hernandez‘s plans.
Although Coutinho has been given plenty of game time since joining Barcelona in January 2018, he has clearly not been happy and the fans have also questioned his arrival in Spain.
In three games for Aston Villa, Coutinho has already scored the same number of goals as he did in his 16 matches with Barcelona.
He also failed to deliver any assists at Barcelona, whereas he has created many chances, including two assists, at Aston Villa. The numbers tell the story.
