In a recently concluded match of the Copa Sudamericana, Vasco da Gama drew 0-0 with Lanús, and Philippe Coutinho, who started the game, played for 68 minutes without making any contributions.

Coutinho is currently on loan at Vasco da Gama, and his parent club is still Aston Villa. This season, he has played 16 games for the Brazilian Serie A team Vasco da Gama, scoring 5 goals and providing 2 assists. Coutinho, who is 32 years old now, is very likely not to be used by Villa after returning to the club this summer. His contract with Villa lasts until the summer of 2026. That is to say, Villa still has to figure out how to deal with this "hot potato" this summer.

In the summer transfer window of 2022, Villa signed Coutinho from Barcelona. According to information from Barcelona, the transfer fee for this deal was 20 million euros, and Barcelona retained 50% of the future transfer profit share of the player.

However, after joining Villa, the then 29-year-old Coutinho's performance was worrying. After playing for a year, he was loaned out twice (to Al Duhail in Qatar and Vasco da Gama in Brazil). He seemed to have lost his way in the Premier League, the league where he once made a name for himself. In his 43 appearances for Villa throughout his career there, Coutinho only scored 6 goals and provided 3 assists.

During his peak period, Coutinho's market value once reached as high as 150 million euros when he was 26 years old. In just about six years, his market value has dropped to only 6 million euros.