Sports Evolve
Steven Gerrard, the Aston Villa manager, has revealed that he enjoys the competition for playmaker Philippe Coutinho.
Coutinho’s loan move from Barca to Aston Villa was a big achievement in the January transfer window.
Coutinho’s major reason for considering a move to Aston Villa was the opportunity to reunite with Steven Gerrard.
Having suffered at Barcelona, the Brazilian needed to be liked again after playing with the pair at Liverpool.
He never stood a chance of competing with Lionel Messi for attention at Barcelona, and as a result, Coutinho faded into the background.
Coutinho has three goals and three assists in seven appearances for Villa, as well as 10 important passes and seven shots on target.
After completing 11 successful dribbles, Coutinho is displaying many of the characteristics that made him a Premier League sensation with Liverpool to begin with.
Because he’s on loan to Villa Park from Barcelona, the worry is that he’ll be back there in the summer.
This leaves the ball in Aston Villa’s court, as Barcelona is believed to be asking a sum of roughly £34 million for Coutinho.
You want to keep Coutinho on a long-term basis? Then you’d better come up with some serious bucks. But there may be some competition for Villa’s option to purchase in their loan.
It’s only logical that other Premier League clubs will compete with Villa for the signing of Coutinho after he shows indications of returning back to his best.
Even still, it doesn’t appear to be upsetting Gerrard; he appears to enjoy it.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard revealed that he wishes other teams were interested in signing Philippe Coutinho.
Gerrard hopes that Coutinho’s success at Aston Villa will continue beyond this season because of the interest from other clubs.
“If a lot of people are looking at him because of his form for Villa, that’s what I want, in a strange way,” said Gerrard. “I’d have taken that on the day we signed him. We’ve got an option on Phil at the end of the season and we’ll make the decision when the time is right. The key for me is the player. He seems really happy and settled.”
“People have worked so hard to help feel comfortable here and he’s playing some of his best football because of the job the club have done to make him feel welcome and help him find his football happiness again,” he added.
