Fantastic Coutinho showing he is at home in the Premier League. Gerrard wants him on a permanent transfer

This year’s Premier League season has offered us some big returns. Christian Eriksen, Cristiano Ronaldo and also Philippe Coutinho headed back to England after 4 years and decided to revive his career in the environment where he had his best period of his career. And so far it’s proving to be a good decision.

He went to Barcelona as the driving force of Liverpool and one of the biggest stars of the Premier League. The £105 million the Spanish outfit paid for him made him the most expensive player in the club’s history.

However, it cannot be said that he lived up to the extremely high expectations. Although he won two league titles, two domestic cups and the Spanish Super Cup, he was not one of the key players of the team.

He did slightly better on loan at Bayern Munich, but inconsistent performances and a high option (around £100m) caused him to return to Barcelona.

However, even this time he was unable to make a name for himself and his situation resulted in another loan move. This January, he was acquired by Aston Villa, where his former teammate Steven Gerrard was very keen on him. And so far, the move has paid off for both parties.

He thrived in England during his Liverpool engagement, scoring 44 goals and 40 assists in 159 games, and he continues his high productivity now.

He has played in 7 matches (6 of which he started in the starting line-up) and has a solid record of 3+3. He made a great debut in his home game against Manchester United, where he first scored a contact goal to make it 2-1 and then equalised himself.

His best game was against Leeds United, where he scored one goal and assisted two in less than a quarter of an hour and played a big part in the 3-3 draw.

He confirmed that he is particularly good at home in the last game. The Villans crushed Southampton 4-0 and the Brazilian star contributed a goal and an assist. However, he also had a hand in the other two goals. You can watch a clip of his excellent performance here:

The twenty-nine-year-old Brazilian is simply showing that he is at home in the Premier League. His performance pleases not only Villans fans, but of course Steven Gerrard, who would like to acquire Coutinho’s services permanently.

“Phil was successful at Barcelona in terms of trophies won, but he had a lot of difficult moments there. After that, he just needed a change. We want to give him that change. If we want to achieve our goals, we need to build a team around players of his calibre,” Gerrard told Goal.

Aston Villa can exercise a £33m option if interested. An almost ridiculous sum for a player of that quality these days. And if Coutinho continues to perform like this, it will be a great “steal” for Aston Villa.

He might even agree to a pay cut in the event of a transfer. Aston Villa are now in charge of 65% of his salary, the remaining part, which was to be contributed by Barcelona, Coutinho voluntarily gave up.

At the moment, in short, there seems to be no reason why the Villans should not exercise the option. However, that will no longer be up to Gerrard.

“I don’t control transfers. The most I can do is give my opinion to the club’s management. They watch the games closely and will make the final decision. Phil has shown what he is capable of.”

At least until the end of the season, Premier League fans can once again enjoy Philippe Coutinho showing his skills on English turf. However, if he continues his interim performances, it is very likely that his stay at Aston Villa will be extended.

Sources: Goal, Transfermarkt