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Nobody is happier than Barcelona with Philippe Coutinho’s success on his return to the Premier League.

The Catalan club signed the Brazilian for a record fee, yet despite their big efforts in getting him away from Liverpool, they didn’t really seem to know what to do with him.

Fitness, form and a general confusion of how to get the best out of Coutinho caused repeat issues, and Barcelona were happy to finally get him back in England with a loan move to Aston Villa.

That move has gone well so far, and there’s been claims of interest from other clubs, including Arsenal. Sport go over that situation on Saturday, and say Mikel Arteta’s side are ‘studying the possibility’ of swooping for the player when his Villa loan ends.

Steven Gerrard’s side have an option to make the move permanent for €40m, and Sport again insist Barca won’t be handing any discounts out. There’s a belief that should Villa not want to pay the €40m then somebody else, such as Arsenal, will.

Aston Villa don’t yet have a personal agreement with Coutinho, so the permanent move could fail on that point. Such a scenario would give Arsenal a chance to perhaps offer higher wages than the Birmingham club want to.

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