Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho joins Qatari team Al Duhail on loan from Villa
MANCHESTER, England: After spells with some of European soccer’s biggest clubs, Philippe Coutinho joined Qatari team Al-Duhail on a season-long loan from Aston Villa on Friday. The former Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan playmaker’s move comes after a slew of the sport’s biggest stars have been lured to Saudi Arabia’s lucrative league. Al-Duhail described the Brazil international as a “great asset” after confirming his arrival. The 31-year-old Coutinho was a record signing for Barcelona when joining the Catalan club in a deal worth up to 160 million euros (then $192 million) in 2018. But his time at the Nou Camp did not go to plan as injury problems saw him fail to live up to expectations and led to loans at Bayern and Villa.