Mikel Arteta has hinted that Philippe Coutinho was on Arsenal’s radar, before ultimately deciding to go for a “different option”.
Coutinho had his Barcelona nightmare put on pause earlier this year, with Aston Villa landing the former Liverpool spell on loan during the January window. During his time at the Camp Nou, the Brazilian failed to ever live up to the huge outlay paid for him, scoring just 17 league goals in three-and-a-half seasons in LaLiga.
The 29-year-old opted to leave Barcelona and link up with his former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard, now in charge of the Midlands club. And he has enjoyed a career renaissance at Villa Park, scoring four goals and registering three assists in just nine league games.
Villa have the option to make the deal permanent in the summer for around £33million, but are yet to agree on a long-term contract and Gerrard is happy to wait until the end of the season for more talks. "When he's comfortable, he's happy and he's enjoying his football we all know we're dealing with a world-class talent," he said earlier this month.
"For me, it doesn't make sense to make any decisions now or say anything else on this, we just need to keep enjoying him and keep him healthy from now until the end of the season."
Reports in Spain have claimed that if Villa are unable to keep the forward at the club on a permanent deal, Arsenal could look to hijack the deal, with Arteta said to be open to signing him. The Gunners take on Coutinho’s Villa at The Emirates on Saturday and Arteta has warned his players about the dangers he possesses.
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“He’s one of them,” the Arsenal boss said when asked if he was Villa’s main dangerman. “The team activates a lot of things when he’s on the ball and in dangerous areas. He has contributed a lot in their attacking phase so obviously it’s something we have to bear in mind.
“His ability to create goals and chances and unlock spaces when they don’t exist. That’s a quality that he had and he did consistently when he was with Liverpool something he did consistently when he was at Liverpool.”
Arsenal spent more than £150million during the summer window, bringing in six players, all of whom have come into the starting line-up and contributed. Coutinho had been touted as a possible target during that time and although they went in a different direction, he admits that players with his qualities were of interest to him.
“We looked at many different players with qualities that he had and at the end we went for a different option.”
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