Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho could join Aston Villa on loan this January with the Premier League outfit looking into the Brazilian's situation at Camp Nou.
The 29-year-old is out of favor in Catalonia and in need of a return to full fitness heading toward the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and former teammate Steven Gerrard is now in charge at Villa Park.
CBS Sports transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has confirmed reports which were originally broken by Helena Condis of COPE and added that Coutinho has been spoken about with three separate EPL clubs.
The former Inter Milan man left Liverpool for Barca in 2018 but the South American's Blaugrana switch has not panned out the way he or the club had hoped with a stint in Germany with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in 2019-20.
Villa, currently 13th in a COVID-19 affected Premier League table, are directly in contact with Coutinho's representative but any deal is far from being agreed and considered done by any of the parties.
The man from Rio de Janeiro is receptive to the possibility of a departure from the Xavi-led La Liga outfit and would join compatriot Douglas Luiz in Birmingham if the move happens with another Brazilian, Wesley, about to return home on loan after an unsuccessful spell back with Club Brugge.