Aston Villa fans await Philippe Coutinho’s departure, with Nicolo Zaniolo the ideal successor.
Philippe Coutinho’s loan exit from Aston Villa has officially been confirmed, and club fans will be watching with bated breath as he ends a tumultuous spell at Villa Park.
On September 6, Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported on his personal Twitter account that Qatari side Al Duhail were closing in on the Brazilian’s signature, with a deal now in place for a loan move with his complete salary covered.
CBS journalist Ben Jacobs also resorted to his own Twitter account (4 September) to disclose Coutinho being observed in Doha ahead of his move, which the club has now officially announced in a Tweet sent on Friday 8 September.
The former Liverpool and Barcelona player turned down bids from Besiktas and Real Betis to join Al-Duhail and will now become Aston Villa’s eighth summer departure, joining the likes of Cameron Archer, Ja Philogene-Bidace, and Marvelous Nakamba.
Coutinho joined Villa for a hefty £17 million deal from Barcelona last summer, following a successful loan spell with the club the previous season in which he had eight goal involvements (five goals and three assists) from 16 Premier League starts (19 games in total).
However, the former Liverpool player’s form and confidence have taken a massive knock since then, with injuries being the deciding factor, with only three starts since the turn of 2023.
In fact, Coutinho’s star has tragically waned in recent seasons, and the 2022-23 campaign revealed a player who fails to influence a game like he used to.
The Premier League intensity always seems to overwhelm him when he takes the field, as evidenced by the injury he picked up in his most recent Villa appearance during the 4-0 win over Everton, where he was only on the field for 21 minutes [SofaScore], suggesting he may be past his prime at the age of 31.
While the Brazilian’s departure is just temporary this time, the Aston Villa faithful will undoubtedly be anticipating his permanent departure from Villa Park, and they are certain they have a superb replacement lined up in Nicolo Zaniolo.
Despite being given only 25 minutes from the bench in his second appearance for the club following his loan move from Galatasaray, the 24-year-old impressed more than his attacking counterparts in a quick cameo against Liverpool at Anfield (3 September).
During that moment, the Italian showed his ability on both sides of the pitch, which would have pleased his management on an otherwise awful day at work.
According to SofaScore, Zaniolo completed six of his eight passes, won three of his five duels, dribbled successfully once, and made one vital pass.
Furthermore, the attacker made two tackles, one interception, and one clearance, outperforming fellow Aston Villa substitutes Youri Tielemans and Jhon Duran in this category.
The 24-year-old has had a rough few of seasons due to significant knee problems, but he had a brief resurrection in Turkey last season, scoring five goals in 10 Super Lig appearances.
During his tenure at Roma, Zaniolo was voted Serie A Young Player of the Year for the 2018-19 season, received his first call-up to the national team in 2018, and was regarded as one of Europe’s most promising attacking prospects.
When in form, the Italian international is a creative and dynamic attacking outlet. Zaniolo ranks in the 95th percentile for successful take-ons that lead to a goal, the 99th percentile for fouls drawn leading to a goal, and the 73rd percentile for goal-creating actions over the past 365 days among attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues [FBRef].
It remains to be seen whether he can regain those exciting levels at Aston Villa, but if Emery is brilliant at anything, it’s revitalizing the careers of players who have stalled, which implies Zaniolo is making the right decision at this time in his career.
Aston Villa sorely needed attacking reinforcements and arguably couldn’t get a better alternative in Zaniolo through the door. Coutinho will almost definitely become a distant memory at Villa Park.
