Arsenal interested in Carney Chukwuemeka as Steven Gerrard makes Aston Villa transfer revelation

Here are your latest Aston Villa headlines on Thursday, March 10.

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has responded to the clamour for Philippe Coutinho's loan move from Barcelona to become a permanent deal.

Coutinho has hit the ground running and was superb against Southampton as Villa dismantled Ralph Hasenhuttl's side 4-0 at Villa Park.

He now has three goals and as many assists in seven matches since he linked back up with former Liverpool team-mate Gerrard in B6 in January.

Villa have an option to buy Coutinho in the summer for around £33 million with the Brazilian set to end a miserable spell at Barcelona which began when he joined the Nou Camp club for a record £142 million from Liverpool.

His contract is up at the end of next season but he is on big wages, which are being subsidised by Villa, a stumbling block that will need to be addressed if Gerrard is to land Coutinho on a permanent deal.

For now, Gerrard wants to wait until the end of the season to see where things are at.

Villa will have a better idea of what version of Coutinho they have when the season is out with 12 games still left to play.

"For me it doesn't make any sense to make any decisions now," Gerrard said.

"When he's physically in the right place, when he's comfortable and happy and enjoying his football, we all know we're dealing with a world-class talent.

Steven Gerrard has been given a huge triple boost ahead of Leeds United tomorrow.

The head coach will welcome back Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne from their respective Covid issues last week, while Carney Chukwuemeka is fit again after missing Villa's last two matches against Brighton and Southampton with a slight niggle.

“We’re in a good place. We’ve got the majority of the team fit and