---
title: "Aston Villa: Barcelona plan Philippe Coutinho talks"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/aston-villa-barcelona-plan-philippe-coutinho-talks/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2022-04-18T19:05:56Z"
modified: "2022-04-18T19:05:56Z"
---

# Aston Villa: Barcelona plan Philippe Coutinho talks

**Barcelona are due to speak to Philippe Coutinho’s agents this week amid concerns that Aston Villa won’t activate their £33million option to buy.**

That’s according to [Tom Hopkinson](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/barcelona-transfer-news-coutinho-villa-26725930?_ga=2.118803915.314499153.1650226425-1504247392.1626470296), [chief sports reporter](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tom-hopkinson-9b150630) for the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, in a story published online on Saturday night.

[Aston Villa latest developments!](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-developments/)

### The lowdown

Villa signed Coutinho on loan in January and [agreed a purchase option](https://twitter.com/greggevans40/status/1479442564931534848) with the La Liga giants.

Steven Gerrard has selected him in 11 straight starting line-ups, and has been rewarded with four goals and three assists so far (via [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/philippe-coutinho/leistungsdaten/spieler/80444)).

Coutinho earns £480,000 per week at Barcelona and, as per [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/03/09/philippe-coutinho-must-cut-480000-a-week-wages-join-aston-villa/), will have to take a significant pay-cut if he’s to join permanently.

For context, Villa’s highest earner at present is thought to be Danny Ings on [a quarter of that salary](https://www.spotrac.com/epl/aston-villa-fc/payroll/).

### The latest

Barcelona directors will seek imminent discussions with Coutinho’s representatives this week over his future.

They aren’t convinced that Villa will stump up the £33million, and they’re keen to know how much, if anything, the Midlands outfit will pay.

If his intermediaries receive a ‘negative response’ from Villa, they will begin to test the water with other clubs.

The plan is to find a new home for Coutinho as Barcelona look to clear him from the wage bill.

The Brazilian’s performances apparently haven’t been as consistent as Aston Villa hoped since his arrival.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”389386″\]

### The verdict

Is this assessment of Coutinho fair?

Even though he only joined midway through the campaign, his tally of seven goal contributions is enough to rank him third [in the Villa squad](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/top-scorers) behind Danny Ings (10) and Ollie Watkins (nine). That suggests inconsistency is an issue throughout the squad.

What’s more, his average [WhoScored](https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/24/Show/England-Aston-Villa) rating of 7.13/10 is the second highest in Gerrard’s ranks after John McGinn (7.17).

If Coutinho agrees to a reasonable wage, then it looks to be a fairly low-risk signing.

The 29-year-old scored 42 Premier League goals and provided 36 assists [with Liverpool](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/philippe-coutinho/leistungsdaten/spieler/80444) during his first stint in England, and he’s shown he can still thrive in the division.

He’s very much a known quantity and should theoretically be affordable for Villa, who [paid more than £33million](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/aston-villa/transferrekorde/verein/405) (£34.6m) to sign Emiliano Buendia last summer.

**In other news, [Steven Gerrard has personally scouted this midfielder](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/aston-villa-news/aston-villa-steven-gerrard-scouts-geoffrey-kondogbia/).**