Aston Villa and Philippe Coutinho 'agree to terminate contract' two years earlier

Aston Villa and Philippe Coutinho have reportedly agreed to terminate his contract following his loan spell in Qatar.

Coutinho's career has taken a nosedive since leaving Liverpool in 2018 and he has failed to establish himself at the four clubs he has represented since.

A productive loan spell at Villa Park in 2022 led to him signing a four-year deal that summer and gave hope that the Brazilian could resurrect his career after a disastrous spell at Barcelona.

However, the midfielder will become a free agent only halfway through his contract with Villans, Brazilian media report, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Romano adds that Coutinho He could be returning to Brazil with Vasco de Gama, where he developed his youth career.

It looked like the fifth highest transfer of all time would take his career to new heights by completing a £142m move to Barcelona from Liverpool.

But Coutinho's career has been nothing short of a nightmare in the six and a half years since he failed to truly adapt to the Camp Nou.

He was loaned to Bayern Munich in the 2019/20 season, however, the German giants opted not to sign him permanently.

The former Inter Milan player was given a lifeline by his 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 made 68 appearances for Brazil, did enough to impress Gerrard as town he shelled out £17 million for his services in the summer of 2022.

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But Coutinho's career soon fell into a downward spiral again, with the 32-year-old only managing six goals and three assists in 43 appearances for the club.

He was loaned to Qatari club Al Duhail last season, but now looks set to be left without a club for the foreseeable future.