Barcelona are hoping that Aston Villa will try to sell Philippe Coutinho in the coming months, as they’d benefit from a sell-on clause included in the deal that took him to Villa Park in the summer.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who cover the clause today after it was claimed Unai Emery is not keen on keeping the Brazilian at Aston Villa in future.
The Spanish coach will be busy reshaping the squad he inherited from Steven Gerrard in January and then next summer, and a recent report in England made it clear that Coutinho is not in his plans.
A move away could be on the cards and that possible departure has ‘put Barça on their guard’ according to Mundo.
That’s because any exit could ‘bring in some extra and unexpected income’ for the Catalan giants courtesy of a sell-on clause they negotiated with Aston Villa.
The newspaper explains that Barcelona included a clause that guarantees them 50% of a future sale as the amount was higher than the €20m Aston Villa paid to sign him.
The income would not be for the total amount but rather half of anything over €20m that they make. For example, if Coutinho was to leave Aston Villa for €30m, Barcelona would get €5m.
That is money they ‘could do’ with as they attempt to meet Financial Fair Play demands and do their own business in future.
At the moment no such offers have arrived for Coutinho, with his only option so far, a loan deal to Flamengo, falling by the wayside.
That was because Aston Villa will only let him go on a permanent basis, something Barcelona would be glad to see happen as they could be set to benefit.
