On May 3rd, Sport explained that Aston Villa have a ‘month to decide’ on buying Philippe Coutinho.
The attacking midfielder joined the Premier League side on a loan deal from Barcelona in January.
Aston Villa can make the 29-year-old’s stay permanent by paying a €40m fee to the La Liga side.
Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday have come out with a report titled: ‘Coutinho gets stuck and already generates doubts’. He managed four goals and three assists from his first seven matches, but has now gone without a goal or an assist in the last six games.
Xavi Hernández’s side are currently paying half of his wages, while he is on loan at Aston Villa. An operation in the summer will not be ‘not cheap’ because of the player’s high salary. Therefore, the English club have ‘begun to take it more calmly’, regarding their prospects of signing the Brazil international on a permanent deal. 
Steven Gerrard has been repeatedly praising the South American and it had led to a suggestion Aston Villa will convert his loan deal into a permanent transfer by paying €40m to the La Liga side.
Due to Coutinho’s dip in form for close to two months, and since there are ‘very high amounts’ related to the operation, Mundo state that Aston Villa are ‘already thinking about it’.
In other words, the Premier League side are thinking whether or not to retain Coutinho beyond this season.
