Philippe Coutinho 'desperate' for Aston Villa move as Steven Gerrard drops transfer hint

Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard claims Philippe Coutinho was "desperate" to return to the Premier League in January.

The Brazil international agreed to join his former Liverpool team-mate Gerrard at Villa Park on a loan from Barcelona last month, and Villa have an option to buy the 29-year-old in the summer.

Coutinho has hit the ground running at Villa after recording four goal contributions in just three appearances.

In his last outing against Leeds United, the maestro scored one goal and made two more as Villa stormed into a 3-1 advantage against Marcelo Bielsa's side.

But goals either side of half-time for Leeds prevented Gerrard picking up his sixth win as Villa manager as the game ended in a draw.

Coutinho rolled back the years with his stunning performance against Leeds in midweek, and Gerrard believes he can still get even better as he continues to develop his fitness.

“His vision is certainly a major strength to him as a player. He’s lovely on the eye to watch, his technical ability is high level,” Gerrard said.

“I don’t think I have to go on about Phil Coutinho the player, you just have to watch him to admire the class and the way he goes about it.

“For me, the key thing here was to get him up to speed from a physical point of view and we’re still working on that. I think he can still get fitter and stronger and he will do with more training and more games."

Coutinho became one of the most expensive footballers in history when he left Liverpool to join Barcelona four years ago, but he struggled to find his feet in Catalunya.

Villa boss Gerrard pounced on the opportunity to bring him back to England and knows what it will take for him to feel settled playing his football again.

“It was about getting him