The former Liverpool and Barcelona attacker is on his way to the Middle East

Philippe Coutinho, a former Liverpool forward, is likely to join Qatari Club Al Duhail on a permanent basis.

Since Unai Emery’s hiring, the Brazilian has struggled for game time at Aston Villa, having started just seven games last season and not appearing after the end of February.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Emery revealed: “He (Coutinho) is close to leaving, but we are waiting to see if the deal is complete or not. Philippe is a very good person and always we have to respect him as a person, firstly.

“Secondly, as a player, he has played at a very high level. He has not been consistent because of injuries and we decided with him speaking and agreeing with him to try that if something is good for him, and good for the club, and for the squad, we can let him leave.

“Then he can find his good performance as a player. Then it’s whether he completes it or not.”

Emery would aim to bring in a replacement for Coutinho before the transfer deadline. He stated this following Thursday night’s victory over Hibernian:

“We are always ready to do something, joining with us some player, or some player leaving our squad. Philippe Coutinho has a possibility to leave, but of course, we are going to wait and in case we have some possibility to as well add someone we are going to be ready to do it.

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“The last day is difficult to get something really, really important, really improving our squad. I am very happy with what we have now, and the club did a big effort to complete our squad, but of course there is one day left to finish it and we are going to be ready.”

Coutinho, 31, was judged surplus to needs this summer after appearing in just two substitute appearances, and he is on the verge of joining last season’s Qatar league champions.

The Brazilian is close to agreeing a deal to Al-Duhail, according to Sky Sports News, and personal details were reportedly negotiated a week ago.

Furthermore, Fabrizio Romano has stated that prior to signing with the Middle Eastern club, he was approached by Real Betis and Besiktas, but he chose to move to Qatar.

After joining Liverpool from Inter Milan in 2013, he went on to score 54 goals and create 45 assists in a brilliant career on Merseyside.

After five years with the club, he moved to Barcelona for £142 million in 2018, making him one of the most expensive signings of all time.

That move did not work out, as he only appeared 106 times, scoring 25 goals. Following that, he was loaned out to Bayern Munich to re-establish his career, and he ended up scoring twice against his parent club in an 8-2 defeat in the Champions League semi-finals.

He returned to the Premier League on loan at Aston Villa, where he initially impressed before signing a permanent deal for £17 million last summer.

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