Out-of-favour Aston Villa attacker Philippe Coutinho is reportedly exploring potential exit routes from the club amid his continued struggles for game time.
The Lions brought the 30-year-old to the West Midlands as a marquee loan signing last January, and he immediately re-acclimatised to life back in the Premier League.
After scoring five goals and setting up three more in 19 top-flight outings, Villa took Coutinho off of Barcelona's hands permanently in a €20m (£17.5m) deal during the summer window.
However, the Brazil international has not been able to replicate last season's form in the current campaign, scoring just one goal in 22 matches across all competitions.
With Leon Bailey and Emiliano Buendia ahead of him in the pecking order, Coutinho has been restricted to just seven Premier League starts this season, the most recent of which saw him score his solitary goal in a 4-2 loss to Arsenal in February.
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Since that strike against the Gunners, Coutinho has been absent from the Lions' last seven Premier League squads with a thigh injury, and he is not expected back for another couple of weeks.
Unai Emery's side have not exactly missed the ex-Liverpool man, though, as they have taken 19 points from 21 on offer during Coutinho's latest enforced absence.
Furthermore, with Bertrand Traore scoring in back-to-back games off the bench since returning from his loan spell with Istanbul Basaksehir, Coutinho's opportunities for starts could slim further.
The attacker is under contract at Villa until 2026, but according to Inter Live, his representatives are already trying to engineer his summer exit from Villa Park.
A return to Inter Milan has been mooted for Coutinho, who made his European breakthrough with the Nerazzurri after leaving boyhood club Vasco da Gama in 2008.
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Coutinho's exploits at Inter earned him his move to Liverpool in 2013, but while Nerazzurri sporting director Piero Ausilio would be open to discussing a deal, finances could be a problem.
With the South American still having another three years left on his contract, Villa will try to recoup the entire £17.5m that they paid last year, and his yearly €8.5m (£7.5m) wage would prove impractical for Inter to pay in full.
As a result, a loan deal could be on the cards, but a return to South America has unsurprisingly been mentioned too, with Corinthians supposedly having a winter bid rejected.
Coutinho has six goals and three assists under his belt from 41 appearances in an Aston Villa shirt, but he was forced to miss the 2022 World Cup due to a hamstring injury.
Ben Knapton
