Coutinho joins Aston Villa on loan from Barcelona

Barcelona and Aston Villa reached an agreement on Friday to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan. So ends the nightmare for both parties in which the Brazilian's time at Ciudad Condal turned into a disaster.

The azulgrana team finally managed to place the Brazilian, who hardly counted for Xavi and whose departure was necessary to make room in the loaded salary mass of the 'culé' team to face new incorporations. 

On loan but with option to buy for 40 million euros

Initially, the star is going on loan for six months, but it cannot be ruled out that his departure could be definitive at the end of the loan due to the option to buy for 40 million euros. His new team will pay a large part of the playmaker's fee - an estimated 65% - and that is a great achievement for Mateu Alemany, who will now have more leeway to register Ferran Torres.

Coutinho sees this signing as a shortcut to rediscover his best soccer. England brought out the best in him as a player and the former Barça player has opted for the English championship to rise again, always with an eye on the next World Cup in Qatar. 

The star arrived at Barcelona in 2018, also in the winter market as a replacement for Neymar, after Barça and Liverpool had failed to reach an agreement in the final days of the 2017 summer transfer window.

The player, who already had experience in Spain from a loan spell at Espanyol, shone in a first half-season that ultimately became his best as an azulgrana player. He played 22 games, scored nine goals and provided seven assists and shone brightly in matches such as the Cup final against Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Coutinho was never at a good level at Barcelona

His second season was much more disappointing and culminated in the Anfield catastrophe and the cup final loss to Valencia in Sevilla. After that, Barcelona sent him to Bayern Munich for a year, with the aim of making the Brazilian's new destination permanent, but the Germans did not execute the high purchase option agreed at the time and he returned to Barcelona.

He also did it with the humiliation of the 2-8 in Lisbon, a match in which the player from Rio de Janeiro, still owned by Barça, scored a double against his former teammates to make a mockery of the worst day in the history of the 'culé' team.

Coutinho returns to the Premier League, where he played 152 games, scored 41 goals and provided 36 assists, although, beyond the numbers, he was the star of the show with his impressive soccer.

He leaves behind a Spanish League in which he was able to play 92 games, scoring 21 goals and providing ten assists. But, above all, he leaves behind a championship in which everyone thought he could be one of the leaders and does so with the unpleasant feeling of what could have been and was not.