Paul Merson doesn’t think Philippe Coutinho and Emiliano Buendia are able to play together for Aston Villa, as he told Sportskeeda.
The former Villa player questioned whether they will sign Coutinho on a permanent basis in the summer because they already have a ‘number 10’ in Buendia on their books.
Coutinho moved to the Midlands on-loan from Barcelona during the January transfer window and they have an option to sign him up permanently if they wish.
After a blistering start to his Villa career, Coutinho has had a quiet few games, but he has had a positive start, nonetheless.
Despite that, Merson is seemingly casting doubt on whether Villa will sign him up.
“It’s probably a little early to speak about this,” said Merson. “But it’ll be interesting to see if Villa exercise the option to sign Philippe Coutinho permanently.
“I’m not sure if they will and I’m only saying that because they already have Emiliano Buendia, who is also a #10.
“I personally don’t think they can play together, but we’ll have to wait and see how the situation develops between now and the end of the season.”
After a barren run of results and performances, Buendia was dropped to the bench for Villa’s win at Brighton.
Given that Steven Gerrard is trying to find that winning formula again, he will probably stick to that XI for the visit of Southampton at the weekend.
Ever since Coutinho has been able to start games for Villa, the Brazil star, Jacob Ramsey and Buendia himself have all played together.
But Gerrard clearly feels that adding Ollie Watkins, alongside Danny Ings, Ramsey and Coutinho will provide the team with more chances to score goals.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
