Aston Villa Unveil Shirt Number For New Signing Coutinho as Gerrard Reunites With Former Teammate

• Philippe Coutinho has been pictured in Aston Villa colours for the first time since his shock loan move from Barcelona
• The Brazil International moved to Villa Park on a loan deal from Barcelona last week
• Coutinho has been handed the No 23 jersey and will be in contention to face Manchester City this weekend

Aston Villa have unveiled the latest signing Philippe Coutinho and assigned a shirt number to a Brazilian playmaker.

The 29-year-old was officially presented as a Villa player late on Tuesday night and will wear the No 23 shirt after moving from Barcelona to Villa Park on loan this week.

Aston Villa beat fellow premier league clubs Newcastle United, Westham to the Brazilian’s signature, and Daily Mail reports that the Midland club will have to pay about £33million to sign Coutinho permanently this summer from Barcelona, who still fund half of his wages this season with the other 50 percent paid by the Premier League club.

Aston Villa Complete Sensational Loan Signing of Barcelona Forward

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Coutinho struggled to impress since moving to Barcelona from Liverpool after four seasons with the Catalan club seeking to offload the Brazilian to reduce their massive wage bill with Aston Villa coming to their rescue.

The Metro reports Philippe Coutinho admitted he quickly made up his mind that he wanted to join Aston Villa on loan after speaking with head coach Steven Gerrard about the club’s ambitions.

‘It’s a pleasure to be here, it’s a great club,’ Coutinho told Villa’s official website.

‘I spoke a lot with Stevie and he told me about the club, the ambitions of the club and his ambitions.

‘Of course, I’m very happy to be here and to enjoy the football here.

‘I know Stevie for a long time. I played with him, I learned a lot with him and he’s a guy who I have big admiration for.

‘I hope to do my best here and for sure I have hard work and I know many of the people on his staff. I hope together we can do good work.’

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Aston Villa will have the Brazilian ready in time for their weekend trip to current Premier League Champions Manchester City.

Tension At Old Trafford As Cristiano Ronaldo Plots Summer Exit From Club

Earlier Sportsbrief reported Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo is plotting a move to Spain as he is increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress at current club Manchester United.

Ronaldo who re-joined Manchester United from Juventus last summer under former manager Ole Gunner Solksjaer has been an integral member of the Red Devils team scoring 8 goals in the Premier League in the current campaign but United has struggled for consistency all season leading to the sacking of Solksjaer and appointment of Ralf Rangnick.