Aston Villa and Philippe Coutinho have reportedly agreed to terminate his contract following his loan spell in Qatar.
Coutinho’s career has seen a steep decline since leaving Liverpool in 2018, as he has failed to establish himself at the four clubs he has played for since then.
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A productive loan spell at Villa Park in 2022 led to him signing a four-year deal in the summer of that year, raising hopes that the Brazilian could revive his career after a disastrous time at Barcelona.
However, the midfielder is set to become a free agent halfway through his Villans contract, Brazilian media reports according to Fabrizio Romano.
Romano adds that Coutinho may be on his way back to Brazil to join Vasco de Gama, where he spent his youth career.
The fifth highest transfer of all time seemed to take his career to a new high when he moved from Liverpool to Barcelona for £142 million.
But Coutinho’s career has been nothing short of a nightmare in the six and a half years since he took office, as he has failed to settle properly at Camp Nou.
In the 2019/20 season he was loaned to Bayern Munich, but the German record champions decided not to sign him permanently.
The former Inter Milan player was given a new chance under former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard, who became Villa manager and signed Coutinho on loan in the second half of the 2021/22 season.
Coutinho, who has 68 caps for Brazil, impressed Gerrard and Villa paid £17 million for his services in the summer of 2022.
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But Coutinho’s career soon went into a downward spiral again: the 32-year-old only managed six goals and three assists in 43 appearances for the club.
Last season he was sent on loan to Qatari club Al Duhail, but now he is likely to be without a club for the foreseeable future.