Barça to close Coutinho's move to Villa before end of the week

SPORT EXCLUSIVE

Barça to close Coutinho's move to Villa before end of the week

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The Brazilian will complete a move to Villa Park on a permanent basis

Barcelona have reached an agreement for the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa. The Brazilian, on loan at the Premier League side, will join them permanently in the summer.

Barça are currently studying the recision of the player's contract and the deal could be announced before the end of the week.

The deal will bring in Barça around 20 million euros, while they will maintain a percentage of any future sale, too.

Coutinho's departure is the start of 'Operation Exit' being undertaken by sporting director Mateu Alemany as he looks to bring in money from fees and lower the way bill.

Moving on Coutinho, one of the biggest earners (around 13.5 million euros annually) and the club's record signing at around 160 million euros, was a priority.

On a sporting level, Xavi was not counting on him for his project and no one now expects him to turn things around at Camp Nou.

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