Aston Villa have started negotiations with a loan offer for Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian is struggling for regular game time at Camp Nou and handed a transfer request yesterday. Arsenal and Newcastle United are also in negotiations for the signature of an attacking midfielder.
It looks like Philippe Coutinho’s Premier League return is imminent as according to a reputable journalist Matteo Moretto, Aston Villa are close to securing a loan move for Brazilian international. Villans manager Steven Gerrard is a big admirer of the 29-year-old playmaker. Both Coutinho and Gerrard played together at Liverpool under the management of Brendan Rodgers. According to many reports from Spain, Steven Gerrard had ‘a personal phone call with Coutinho’ regarding a loan move.
Gerrard is also looking for other alternatives and is keen on adding a new attacking midfielder this month. Aston Villa are struggling at 11 the position in the league table but things are improved since the arrival of Steven Gerrard at Villa Park.
Coutinho arrived at Camp Nou in January 2018 for a club-record fee of £142 million but since then he has struggled with fitness and regular game time. He was sent on loan to Bayern Munich in 2019-20 where he scored 8 goals. On his return to Barcelona, Coutinho suffered a long-term injury and lost his place in the squad. Things haven’t changed under the new manager Xavi as Brazilian is warming the bench in Spain.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is also keeping tabs on Coutinho’s transfer activity and has instructed management to sign former Liverpool star. Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in Coutinho but no official bid has been confirmed so far.
Steven Gerrard makes 'personal call' to Philippe Coutinho as Aston Villa chase transferhttps://t.co/wjMsyy9cZa pic.twitter.com/M8ousSRYZA
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) January 5, 2022
Barcelona To Freeze Out Ousmane Dembele If He Rejects Contract Extension:
Ousmane Dembele has been given the option to sign a contract extension or get frozen out of first-team at Barcelona. The French forward has just 6 months left on his contract at Camp Nou and holding the La Liga giants for a better contract offer. Barcelona have put an updated and better contract offer on the table but Dembele is demanding a £67 Million Package to extend his stay.
Barcelona feel that these demands are outrageous and give a final warning to former Borussia Dortmund star. According to a report from Marca, If Dembele decides to not sign a contract extension then he will be added to the transfer list immediately. Instead of losing him on a free transfer in the summer, Barcelona are looking to cash in on the injury-prone player. Dembele is heavily linked with Paris Saing-Germain and Newcastle United with pre-contract agreement deals.