Philippe Coutinho joins Aston Villa on loan from Barcelona

Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho will join Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season, the Premier League club announced on Friday.

Villa have the option to buy the Brazil international, who is now expected to travel to Birmingham to complete the formalities of his move.

The midfielder will link up with Villa boss Steven Gerrard, who he played with at Liverpool from 2013-15.

"Aston Villa and FC Barcelona have agreed terms for Philippe Coutinho to spend the rest of this season on loan at Villa Park," Villa said.

"The agreement, which is subject to the player completing a medical and receiving a work permit, also includes an option to buy and Philippe will travel to Birmingham in the next 48 hours."

Villa are 13th in the Premier League after three defeats in four games following a bright start under Gerrard, who took over at Villa Park in November.

Gerrard on Thursday described his former Liverpool teammate as a "special footballer" while refusing to comment on speculation linking him with a move to Villa.

Barcelona said in a statement that Coutinho, who has made 106 appearances for the club, was expected to travel to Birmingham in the next few hours.

Coutinho has struggled to establish himself as an automatic choice in his four years at Camp Nou after signing from Liverpool for €135 million.

He has made just 12 La Liga appearances this season, scoring two goals as Barca languish in fifth place, 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid.

It is the second time the 29-year-old Brazil playmaker has been loaned out by Barcelona having spent the 2019/20 season at Bayern Munich, who he helped to win the Champions League, knocking out his parent club en route to the title.

Villa next face Manchester United on Monday in the FA Cup third round.

Russia's Muslim Heartlands

Dominic Rubin, Oxford

How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?

If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.

Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.

Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.

Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).

Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.

Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.

By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.

As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.

Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.

He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”

This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”

Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.

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