Philippe Coutinho ‘could reunite with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in MLS’ as the forward ‘doesn’t feature in Unai Emery’s plans at Aston Villa’ following loan spell in Qatar.

Philippe Coutinho ‘could reunite with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in MLS’ as the forward ‘doesn’t feature in Unai Emery’s plans at Aston Villa’ following loan spell in Qatar.

After a loan stint in Qatar, Philippe Coutinho is expected to rejoin Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. Meanwhile, the forward “doesn’t feature” in Unai Emery’s plans at Villa.

The 31-year-old Brazilian made a temporary move to QSL team Al-Duhail in September, where he scored on his debut in a 2-1 away win over Al-Markhiya. However, in just six games over the course of four months, he has managed just one more goal.

Even if the player is now expected to return to the Midlands this month, Emery and the Aston Villa club management will likely look for alternative ways to move the player, like a loan or a transfer.

According to AS, there has been particular discussion regarding Coutinho playing in the Major League Soccer (MLS), more precisely at teams like Inter Miami or L.A. Galaxy. After moving to Barcelona for £142 million in 2018, Coutinho—who is regarded as the most expensive January signing of all time—has struggled to advance in his career. That was six years ago.

He was loaned out to Bayern Munich for the 2019-2020 season, and even though he enjoyed a successful spell in Bavaria by scoring eight goals in 23 appearances and lifting a Champions League trophy there, the Bavarians didn’t activate the option to sign the player on a permanent contract in the summer of 2020 for €120M euros.

Coutinho then returned to Barcelona in August of that year after the arrival of new coach Ronald Koeman, but suffered a serious knee injury in December, missing the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

Signed on loan by former Aston Villa manager and close friend, Steven Gerrard, in January 2022, Coutinho made his stay at Villa Park permanent for an undisclosed fee, reported to be 17M, on a four-year contract after scoring five goals in 21 appearances in the second half of the 2021-22 season.

But after Gerrard’s dismissal in October 2022, Coutinho has quickly found himself falling down the pecking order in attack under Emery, as he was only involved in 20 matches out of a possible 38 in the Premier League last season, scoring once.

In addition to playing with Messi once more in Miami, Coutinho—whose superb passing and vision earned him the moniker “The Little Magician” back home—could also rejoin former Barcelona colleague Luis Suarez, who in December signed a contract to play with the Herons in 2024–25.

Additionally, Coutinho would be reunited with former Barcelona players Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. The offensive midfielder, who can also play on the wing, would be on the same field as Riqui Puig, an ex-teammate from Barcelona, in Los Angeles.

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