Stan Collymore has told CaughtOffSide that Aston Villa manager Unai Emery will sell Philippe Coutinho in the summer of 2023.
The former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker has not been impressed by Coutinho at all at Villa Park.
The pundit believes that Villa boss will tell former Liverpool attacking midfielder Coutinho to leave at the end of the season.
Collymore said: “I don’t think Philippe Coutinho will make the cut in the summer. I think he was nothing more than one of Christian Purslow’s vanity signings, in the same way that Steven Gerrard was.
“Now they’ve got a guy in Emery who knows the coaching side of the game, a very clear message will be sent in the summer to the players who can be relied upon to help inspire a push for European football and unfortunately, Coutinho isn’t one of them.
“Prior to joining Villa, he played a pitiful amount of games, so why did Purslow and the supporters believe he was the man to make the difference week-in-week-out for Villa, especially when, at the time that he joined, they were a club very much in the bottom half of the table?
“Trolling from Stevenage’s social media team or not, I’d be surprised if Villa didn’t try to sell Coutinho in the summer. It won’t be easy though. His contract runs until 2026 which was a ridiculous deal to give him by the way.
“It was offered at an end of season get together last summer as some sort of weird Purslow gift to Villa fans but it is a complete and utter waste of the owner’s money and because of that, they could very well end up with the player not involved at all and earning huge money. Crazy.
“Other options would obviously include Villa giving him a free transfer in three years’ time, or loaning him out before then, but either way, Coutinho should not be at Aston Villa football club.”
Could Unai Emery sell Philippe Coutinho from Aston Villa?
In our view, Philippe Coutinho does not have a future at Aston Villa under manager Unai Emery.
Despite being fit and available, the £125,000-a-week (Spotrac) Brazilian is not starting regularly for the Villans.
It was then Villa manager Steven Gerrard who signed Coutinho for the Villans.
The former England international midfielder played with the 30-year-old at Liverpool.
Coutinho was struggling at Barcelona, and the expectation was that he would flourish under Gerrard in the Premier League.
It has simply not worked out.
The playmaker has made six starts and nine substitute appearances in the Premier League for Villa so far this season.
Coutinho has not scored a goal or provided an assist in those matches.
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