Aston Villa finally strike agreement as winger gets his transfer wish

Aston Villa have confirmed that they’ve finally moved on Philippe Coutinho on a permanent basis after he joined boyhood club Vasco da Gama for good.

Coutinho signed initially on loan from Barcelona, who he’d cost £142m, in January 2022. He then signed permanently for Steven Gerrard the following summer, but his time at Villa as a fully fledged player was a disappointing one which didn’t bear much fruit for Villa’s investment.

The former Liverpool attacker, who has also spent time at Inter Milan and Bayern Munich in a decorated playing career, was loaned out to Qatar after the appointment of Unai Emery, and then he was loaned to Vasco last summer – midway through their regular season.

There was never much prospect of Coutinho being involved again under Emery, though; like fellow loanee and outcast Leander Dendoncker, Emery made plans to drive Villa forwards – something we’ve seen come to fruition with a third straight campaign in Europe on the horizon – and the playmaker was shuffled out of the picture.

It’s long been Vasco’s intention to bring the 33-year-old back on a permanent basis, and they’ve now managed to do so having struck an agreement with Villa, who it was reported were looking to cancel Coutinho’s contract a year prematurely – he still had another season left on the four-year deal he was presented with when signing permanently.

Coutinho played 43 times for Villa, scoring six goals. The club added when confirming his departure: “Everyone at Aston Villa would like to thank Philippe for his service to the club and wish him all the best in his future career.”

Everyday, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content.