Aston Villa would sell 'exceptional' player for £17m now but he does not want to leave

By Sam Preston

Philippe Coutinho does not want to leave Aston Villa amid interest from Galatasaray with the Turkish transfer window still open.

The Express and Star report that the Brazilian playmaker has expressed his commitment to Villa and that his stance has not changed.

The report claims that Villa do not really want to lose another creative player, although if they could get their £17 million back, they would sell Coutinho.

That does not seem to be on the cards right now, and with the Turkish transfer window closing tomorrow, any deal would need to happen quickly.

Coutinho does not want to leave amid Galatasaray interest

Coutinho has been called ‘exceptional‘ by Roberto Firmino and looked a real coup for Villa when he first came in on loan under Steven Gerrard.

But after his initial good form on loan, he has tailed away and has been a real disappointment since his move was made permanent.

He does not really look like an Unai Emery type of player either, so his future will be interesting from here, especially if someone offered Villa their money back in the summer.

BBC pundit Chris Sutton has been among those criticising Coutinho this season, and he has no goals or assists to his name this season, as per Transfermarkt.

He came on for Jacob Ramsey at half-time during Villa’s 4-2 loss against Leicester on Saturday, but could not turn the tide of the game Villa’s way.

Of course, any mention of Turkish football right now should make mention of the earthquake there and for many, many people there, football is not a priority at all right now.