Coutinho Deal: Villa Push it Good

Dan Bardell celebrates the permanent signing of Philippe Coutinho with club correspondent Gregg Evans on The Athletic's podcast all about Aston Villa.

At a reduced fee, and with a significant wage cut for the player, it looks like Villa's administrators have played a blinder, but is Barcelona's 50% share of a future transfer fee significant?

Considering the ink was still fresh on that deal, and with a tribute to Villa's European Cup winners before kick-off, the performance against Palace, and the crowd, were strangely flat. What explains the muted atmosphere at Villa Park of late?

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