Brazil star set to depart Aston Villa on loan

The 32-year-old playmaker is expected to join Vasco de Gama, the club where he began his career as a teenager, though reports in South America claim the deal will not be permanent as previously expected.

Villa had been hoping to move Coutinho off the books for good after a nightmare couple of years blighted by poor form and injury since arriving in a £17million switch from Barcelona.