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Fans have taken a dig at Barcelona following the news of their former midfielder Philippe Coutinho joining Qatari side Al Duhail on loan.
The 31-year-old Brazilian arrived at Aston Villa from Nou Camp in January 2022, initially on loan, before the Villans made the move permanent six months later for €20 million. He's now off to Qatar for the next phase of his career.
Coutinho has had a decent spell at Villa Park - bagging six goals and three assists in 41 games across competitions. However, five of those goals and all three assists came during his initial loan spell spanning 19 games in the 2021-22 campaign.
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Having made two Premier League appearances this term, Coutinho has completed a rather shock season-long loan move to Al-Duhail. Earlier, the player had an underwhelming spell at Barcelona since arriving from Liverpool for €135 million in 2017.
Coutinho bagged only 25 goals and 14 assists in 106 games across competitions before he was shipped off to Aston Villa. The English club have now announced his loan move to Al-Duhail.
Fans reacted to the news by blaming Barcelona for 'ruining' the player's career, with one tweeting:
"Barcelona ruined his career."
Another chimed in:
"He should've moved to Saudi."
Here are some of the top reactions on X, formerly called Twitter:
"We are entering a new era" - Barcelona president Juan Laporta
Barcelona president Juan Laporta has hailed club legend and current manager Xavi Hernandez for transforming the club's fortunes. The president made his comments in the final episode of a documentary titled 'New Era' depicting the behind-the-scenes moments of their 2022-23 La Liga-winning campaign.
In his first full season in charge at the Camp Nou, Xavi led Barca to an unlikely title triumph, ending their four-year league title drought. In the aforementioned documentary, Laporta said that the win has heralded a new era at the club:
“We are entering a new era now, Xavi’s era,” Laporta said (Mundo Deportivo via Barca Universal). "It has been a historic league. Where did we come from, Xavi, where did we come from!”
He added:
"A new era has begun and we are privileged to be able to live it because I am convinced that it will be a new splendid era and one of the best in the history of Barca."
Xavi and Co. are unbeaten after four games into the 2023-24 La Liga season, winning thrice. They trail their arch-rivals Real Madrid, who have won all four outings, by two points.
