Transfer expert has his say on Steven Gerrard getting his Philippe Coutinho wish at Aston Villa

Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard have been given a promising update regarding the chances of the club signing Philippe Coutinho this summer.

Coutinho, 29, has been an important figure in the Villa line-up since arriving on loan in January and his former teammate Steven Gerrard is desperate to secure his services permanently this summer.

Gerrard commented on the possibility of a deal being executed recently, with the Villa boss stating this: “Phil has got to obviously want to be here in terms of the big picture but he is enjoying his football and looks happy and settled. I know the owners are very ambitious, so we will just analyse it as we go along. But if it was totally on me and it was my cash you know what I would do."

Despite his clear desire to complete this deal, Villa will face competition from the likes of Arsenal and Newcastle this summer after Coutinho's form in a Villa shirt put several clubs on red alert. With the latter reportedly set offer the Brazilian a £1m signing on bonus if he does choose to join the Magpies in favour of Villa.

Regardless of the rumours linking the player elsewhere, transfer insider Dean Jones spoke to GIVEMESPORT to provide Villa fans with the following update regarding Coutinho: “Let’s not forget that Aston Villa have extremely rich owners and they’re not a club that are struggling, so he’ll still get paid very well. I think there’s a good chance that it happens.”

Barcelona have made it clear that the future of the player they once paid £142 million for, lies away from the Camp Nou. Given the fact Villa inserted a £33 million option to buy in his current loan deal, the claret and blue side of Birmingham look perfectly set up to complete the permanent signing of the third most