On his live stream on Wednesday evening, Spanish journalist Gerard Romero featured an interview with Southampton player Oriol Romeu.
The midfielder, who now has 242 appearances for the Saints, had a long chat about La Liga and the Premier League, giving his opinion on several footballers.
Given Romeu’s past at Barcelona, he also had a word about Philippe Coutinho and his return to England by joining Aston Villa in the last transfer window. The Southampton player highlighted the big influence that Steven Gerrard has been having on the Brazilian’s great start at the Villa Park side.
“Coutinho is another type of player,” Oriol Romeu told Gerard Romero.
“I think that Steven Gerrard has helped him uncover himself, it’s incredible how he affects the mind in the performance of footballers.”
Aston Villa have Coutinho on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season, and the agreement between the clubs includes a buying option worth €40m.
It’s quite common to see the parties negotiating new fees following the players’ spell, but in this case, things could come out differently. Reports from the Catalan media this week claimed that in case the Premier League club don’t pay up the full clause, then Barcelona are unlikely to grant any discounts and should sell him elsewhere.
