Aston Villa midfielder Philippe Coutinho has an offer from Qatari champions Al-Duhail.
Coutinho has fallen down the pecking order at Aston Villa and has now been offered a chance to start afresh in Qatar.
The Brazilian playmaker joined the Midlands side on loan from Barcelona last year, swayed by a reunion with Steven Gerrard, his former Liverpool team-mate, before going on to make it a permanent deal in the summer.
But Coutinho, 31, has slipped down the pecking order under Unai Emery, with new signings Moussa Diaby and Nicolo Zaniolo preferred options in attacking roles.
In Aston Villa’s opening two league games of the season Coutinho managed three minutes off the bench in the 5-1 hammering at Newcastle, and 21 minutes off the bench in the 4-0 win over Everton. He was not in the squad for game three against Burnley.
Al-Duhail, based in Doha, Qatar, are managed by former Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo and the Red Knights hold lofty ambitions to follow the lead of Saudi Arabia’s Pro League in snaring top European stars.
Even with his diminishing returns at Villa, Coutinho remains an incredibly accomplished midfielder.
The 31-year-old, who won the Champions League during his time at Bayern Munich, was once one of the Premier League’s most feared attackers and convinced Barcelona to spend £145million on him in 2018.
He now has an opportunity to see out his playing career in the Middle East after struggling to re-capture his spark at Villa Park.
Should he leave Villa this summer he would join Aaron Ramsey (Burnley, £14m), Ashley Young (Everton, free), Marvelous Nakamba (Luton Town, undisclosed) and Wesley Moraes (Stoke City, undisclosed), among those who have departed in this window.
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