Aston Villa could be signing Philippe Coutinho.
Indeed, as audacious as that sounds, there could well be some truth to it.
Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Villa are in direct contact with his agents, while others have also stated that Villa are in talks.
Coutinho remains the most expensive transfer in British football history after he left Liverpool for £142m, but he’s since struggled at Barcelona.
However, there is still a fantastic player in there somewhere, and Jack Grealish’s past comments on the playmaker show just what he can bring to Villa Park.
What’s Grealish said about Coutinho?
Speaking to BT Sport (via Daily Mail), Grealish admitted that he used to watch a lot of footage of Coutinho back when he was at Liverpool, stating that his final pass was always perfect.
“I watched videos of the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, and all these playmakers, you know, around the world, like (Philippe) Coutinho – clips of him from him when he was at Liverpool,” Grealish said.
“I’ve worked on my final ball. I always watch clips of Coutinho from Liverpool – it was always the final pass that was perfect and that’s what I’ve tried to work on this season.”
Perfect Grealish replacement
Who better to replace Grealish than the man that he used to study?
Coutinho may not have had the best run of form over the past couple of years, but he’s still only 29 years old, and as the old adage goes, form is temporary, class is permanent.
This is a player who has so much talent that Barcelona decided to pay £142m for him, and if he shows even a fraction of that ability at Villa, the Midlands club will have a star on their hands.
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