After Philippe Coutinho entering the pitch in the final minutes of Aston Villa’s match against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, part of the Brazilian media saw it as a sign that he might stay at the club.
With Corinthians mostly linked to the 30-year-old because he wasn’t getting much playing time in the Premier League, any new chance given to him by Unai Emery is seen as a setback regarding a potential January move.
Now while the Brazilian media wonders about Coutinho’s future, there’s an Aston Villa player who had something to say about that. That’s Douglas Luiz, who was interviewed by ESPN Brasil journalist Natalie Gedra at the weekend.
Following the 2-0 win over Tottenham, the midfielder gave them an interview and was asked about his teammate. Douglas Luiz then claimed that Coutinho is actually ‘happy’ at Aston Villa, with no big intention of leaving the club so soon.
“Really, he is very happy. We always talk, we always joke about going back to Vasco together (laughs). And I hope that one day, we can play together there, but he’s very happy here. Our focus is here for the moment. He’s, I think, 30 now, and a player can play at a high level until he’s 35. So I don’t think he’s in that rush to go to Brazil now,” Douglas Luiz told ESPN Brasil.
“That’s why when I scored the goal, I went there and gave him a hug. He always shows me how happy he is to be able to train with us together, we’re together, there’s Diego too. So I always try to praise them, be on their side, because it’s always a difficult time when we’re not playing, Diego is injured. So we have to try to embrace our own.”
The word in Brazil had been that Aston Villa would wait for any better offers from Europe in January before thinking of a loan to Corinthians. Now if Emery continues giving Coutinho some chances, perhaps manager and club could change their mind about his future.
