Unai Emery to ‘help’ Steven Gerrard’s ‘great value’ Aston Villa signing

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery feels Philippe Coutinho is of ‘great value’ to him. The Spaniard has also explained why he intends to ‘help’ the Brazilian playmaker in the Premier League.

The Villans are yet to see the best from Coutinho since Steven Gerrard struck a £17m deal with Barcelona in May. He sought to clinch the 30-year-old’s permanent transfer from the La Liga side after a loan spell. But the Birmingham outfit refused to use their £33m buy option.

Coutinho convinced Gerrard to keep the maestro at Aston Villa after offering five goals and three assists in 19 games. But the 69-cap international has not yet provided a single goal or an assist through 20 games this term. He has also only started six of his 18 league games.

The warning signs were already there during Coutinho’s loan spell last term, too. He went 10 Premier League fixtures without a goal or an assist after netting four and creating three in his first eight outings. The Rio de Janeiro native struck again on the final day of the term.

Now, Coutinho faces a fight to feature under Emery since the Spaniard replaced Gerrard at Aston Villa. The Brazilian has not started any of his six Premier League appearances under the 51-year-old. He also only played 66 minutes in the FA Cup in a 2-1 defeat to Stevenage.

Unai Emery still feels Philippe Coutinho offers him ‘great value’ at Aston Villa

Emery still feels Coutinho offers him ‘great value’ at Aston Villa, though. The Hondarribia-born coach appreciates that the playmaker has played at the highest levels of the sport. He also cost Barcelona £105m, rising to £142m, to sign from Liverpool back in January 2018.

“He performs with a humility that is difficult for a footballer who has been at the top of football for years to assume, which makes him of great value to me,” Emery told DAZN, via quotes by Sport.

“I think that among all of us, I too, we are going to try to help him so that he brings out his best version.”

Coutinho has featured 48 times while providing 12 goals plus nine assists in the Champions League in his career. He also helped Bayer Munich win the UEFA cup during 2019/20 while on loan there. He also won the Bundesliga title that term, plus two La Ligas with Barcelona.