Matty Cash says he can’t quite believe he’s sharing the same pitch as Philippe Coutinho - let alone the same barber.
Aston Villa’s flying full-back is proving himself a cut above at the moment playing alongside the Barcelona loanee.
Cash acknowledged the impact Coutinho has made at Villa Park since his arrival two months ago.
He said: “Everyone knows the quality he has and training with him and every day is really good for all of us. So we're learning from him. He's actually unbelievable to train with. He's brilliant. It's really good.
“To be honest, he’s just a normal guy. You sit there and sometimes you think 'Bloody hell, that's Coutinho!' but, nah, he's just a normal guy…I mean, he gets his hair cut at the same barber as me!
“He's just an unbelievable talent and we all know how good he is. To be playing alongside him is any boy's dream, really.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Villa be able lure Coutinho to sign for them on a permanent basis? Let us know in the comments section.
Coutinho has impressed his new manager but Steven Gerrard acknowledged it is not set in stone that Villa will sign the 29-year-old on a permanent basis from Barcelona.
“For me it doesn’t make any sense to make any decisions now," Gerrard said recently.
“When he’s physically in the right place, when he’s comfortable and happy and enjoying his football, we all know we’re dealing with a world-class talent.
“We just need to keep enjoying him, to keep him healthy from now until the end of the season and I’m sure he’ll help us.
“To watch him and work with him and see him get back to his top form and enjoy his football again is a pleasure.”
Cash, meanwhile, is now adding goals and assists to his game with Gerrard having taken him to one side and emphasised his need to see the former Nottingham Forest man flying forward and helping out in front of the opposition’s goal.
And the £16m signing from the City Ground says that his return is one-in-they-eye for the bores who have been digging him out on social media.
He said: “I've sat down with the gaffer and gone through some targets of what he wants me to do and what I want to do myself.
“It's getting numbers up, really. Keeping my form and keeping my consistency, playing well. As a modern-day full-back you need to get crosses and goals and assists to help the team and the style we want to play that is massive for us.
“I think it's improved. I know myself it has. I don't have to prove to anyone I've got a final ball.
“I do it every day in training and I'm working hard on keep doing more of it because I know myself I've got a good cross in me, I've got a good strike.
“That's not me being big-headed because obviously there's been a few people doubt it.
“Everyone's got an opinion but, for me, I've just got to be focused on doing it, doing it in games, and prepare myself as well as I can in the week. It's coming off now. So, I've just got to keep consistent and keep doing it.”
