Philippe Coutinho is reportedly already in Qatar as he looks set to leave Aston Villa to join Al Duhail in a loan move.
The 31-year-old has made just 43 appearances for the club since joining us in January 2022, contributing six goals and three assists in those outings.
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While currently sidelined again due to injury, an issue he has consistently struggled with while at Villa, it appears as though Coutinho’s time with us could be coming to an end.
According to UOL in Brazil, the Brazilian international is already in Qatar to seal a move to Al Duhail with the transfer window still open there, and it’s suggested that it will be a loan move for the rest of this season, with the option to renew for another year.
Given we are seemingly not set to receive a transfer fee for a permanent departure, it’s at least hoped that the agreement is for Al Duhail to pay Coutinho’s wages while with them, as ultimately it’s important that we at least clear that cost off our books.
Coutinho’s current contract with Villa runs until June 2026, a questionable decision in itself to give him such a lengthy deal given his previous struggles since joining Barcelona, and so there will be an element of concern that Villa couldn’t get a fee for him this summer as we could be stuck for a while yet.
Perhaps the player himself favoured a move to Qatar and Villa are willing to accommodate his wishes, but ultimately it’s important that if Unai Emery feels as though he has become dispensable, we shift him as best we can and create space in the squad and financial flexibility to be able to strengthen moving forward.
Putting our hopes aside of wanting the Brazilian playmaker to succeed and believing that he has the talent to play a key role for us as we compete across multiple fronts this season, he simply hasn’t proven to be a reliable enough option for Emery to warrant keeping him around on such big wages.
Ideally, the deal would have been completed prior to the transfer deadline as we now have to wait until January to add a reinforcement to help the fill the void, but as a decision taken in isolation, it seems like the sensible thing to do from a Villa perspective to offload Coutinho now.
It remains to be seen if further details come out on his touted move to Al Duhail, but as noted above, if it is a loan switch, Villa will no doubt be pushing for them to cover his salary as part of the agreement.