Aston Villa have confirmed that Philippe Coutinho has joined Vasco da Gama on a season-long loan deal.
The 32-year-old joined us on loan from Barcelona in January 2022, and the early signs in those initial months were promising as he made an important contribution under former boss Steven Gerrard.
READ MORE: Villa exercise option to potentially re-sign ace with Emery keen on move
However, after his move was made permanent the following summer, injuries, loss of form, competition for places and Gerrard’s exit all combined to ensure that Coutinho struggled to make any notable impact from that point onwards.
Villa have in turn moved in a different direction under Unai Emery who has quality options in that area of his squad now that will push Coutinho down the pecking order, and having spent last season out on loan at Al-Duhail, the Brazilian playmaker will now depart again for another year with a return to his homeland.
As per the club’s official statement, Coutinho has re-joined Vasco on loan for the season.
While it’s a shame that it’s not a permanent solution that would have suited all parties with a contract termination being heavily touted at one stage, it’s hoped that the terms of the agreement ensure that the Brazilian outfit at least cover most, if not all, of his wages.
The ideal scenario now would be that Coutinho has a great season and earns a permanent switch, as by next summer he would still have a year left to run on his Villa contract, and we’ll hopefully be able to receive a decent enough fee for him still.
Ultimately though, there is a sense of disappointment that we haven’t cut ties completely this summer, as that would be a guarantee of shifting his significant salary off the books, and potentially that would give Emery more flexibility to improve and strengthen his squad.
As noted above, with Emiliano Buendia, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers, Moussa Diaby, Leon Bailey and others all playing key roles in the final third for us, Emery appears to have plenty of competition and depth to ensure that Coutinho is now surplus to requirements.
