Villa sign Coutinho on loan from Barcelona

Aston Villa have signed Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho on a loan deal until the end of the season from LaLiga side Barcelona, the Premier League club said on Friday.

The agreement includes the option to make the deal permanent, Villa added.

Coutinho previously spent six years in the Premier League playing for Liverpool and will reunite with former captain Steven Gerrard at Villa Park.

Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle and Tottenham were also linked with a move for Coutinho.

The playmaker, who has scored 26 goals in 106 appearances for the Catalans, has 18 months to run on his Nou Camp contract, which expires at the end of the 2022-23 season.

Gerrard, who described his former team-mate as a "special footballer" on Thursday, and Coutinho were key parts of the Liverpool side who fell just short of winning the Premier League title in 2014.

Coutinho scored 41 Premier League in 152 appearances for Liverpool, who he joined from Inter Milan in January 2013.