Tim Vickery has claimed live on Sky Sports that Aston Villa star Philippe Coutinho isn't going back to Brazil.
The Lowdown: Exit not looking likely
Coutinho hasn't featured too regularly under new Villa boss Unai Emery and many may have thought it was the end of his time in the Midlands when former teammate Steven Gerrard was sacked.
However, the midfielder has come out swinging in recent times insisting on social media that talk of him looking to leave Villa was not true and that he was only focused on helping the team.
The midfielder was being tipped to make a sensational return to his home country of Brazil but that now appears to certainly no longer be a possibility.
The Latest: Coutinho not looking to leave
Vickery was asked about Coutinho's future live on Sky Sports and admitted while there is interest from Brazil, the midfielder isn't keen on any such move as he said:
(3:35) "Well there was huge excitement in Brazil, especially when Steven Gerrard left company with Villa because Coutinho was very much seen as a Gerrard project, so the Corinthians club in Sao Paulo got very very excited and they were putting the maths together and seeing if they could do it.
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"It would be very very complicated, how could they finance this move, could they get sponsors on board and so on, but it seems that Philippe Coutinho's agent has poured scorn on this one, he's said that's not going to happen and he's not looking to leave Europe at the moment."
The Verdict: Villa must utilise their star attacker
Despite starting just 16 games in the Premier League last season Cotuniho still managed to finish the season with 0.54 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, which was the fifth-best in the entire Villa squad (FBRef).
This shows just how talented he can be used if in the correct mindset and used in the right way, so Emery has a task on his hands to ensure he gets the most out of Coutinho as having a player labelled as 'special' by his former boss can only be a good thing.
It would be a huge shame if Coutinho had headed back to Brazil as he clearly still has something to offer either the Premier League or just European football in general and the fact he's come out and squashed any rumours shows how committed he appears to be under Emery.