Simon Jordan raises Philippe Coutinho transfer concern for Aston Villa

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has suggested a deal to bring Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa permanently in the summer might not be as straightforward as some supporters may have hoped.

The Brazil international could join Villa on a permanent basis at the end of the season when his loan switch from Barcelona expires. He will leave Barca this summer and Villa have an option to buy him for £33million. Though, Premier League clubs Arsenal and Tottenham have also been linked with moves themselves.

Coutinho has made seven goal contributions in his first nine games at the club as he looks to have rediscovered the sort of form that convinced Spanish giants Barcelona to part with £142million in January 2018 to prise him away from Liverpool. Gerrard is now hopeful of convincing his former Reds teammate to commit his future to Villa.

But Jordan doesn't think a permanent transfer will be an easy deal to strike by any means. He said on talkSPORT: "Interesting times for Villa, do they make make a rod for their own back and take a loan signing which makes really good sense, it was a really clever, sensible deal because it costs them nothing really.

"If you’re talking what it cost them, on paper one of the best players in the world, he may not have set the world alight in Spain for a time or Germany, but not withstanding still a very highly talented player, to get him on loan for 26 weeks was £4m or £5m quid, in Premier League spending that’s nothing.

"It’s one thing taking him on loan, he might have been prepared to compromise some of his wages and the deal happened because of Gerrard. The bottom line is they’ve made a situation where that kind of signing looks like the kind of signing Aston Villa will make going