Matty Cash: Keep Philippe Coutinho at Aston Villa

Cash said the little Brazilian has made a huge impact at Villa since his arrival, on and off the pitch.

And the Poland international said in an interview with TalkSport: “He makes playing football so easy.

“Playing with him, training with him and seeing him around the training ground – he’s next level.

“He’s got a shimmy that everyone has seen but it is so quick when you are there training with him. You want him on your team, he’s brilliant. We’ve linked up a lot in the last couple of games, he’s found me and I’ve found him, he’s making my crosses look good by putting them in the back of the net, that’s another major part why I’ve got a few assists. He’s next level and such a normal guy. One of the most expensive and best footballers in the world, to have him around Bodymoor to work with is next level.

“Me and Ollie Watkins drive in every day, I said to him we need to sign him. Sign him up! We’ll leave the club to do that. Everybody knows how important he is to us. I would be a real honour to play with him for another couple of years or so.

“It’s sounds a real cliche but we’re just trying to build a platform. Two years ago we nearly got relegated out of the Premier League, to be sitting ninth is a great achievement but we don’t want to be sat here, we want to be higher up.

“To get to the next level you always have to go through a platform, which is to get to Europe, which is what we’re trying to achieve, what the process is, since the gaffer’s come in that’s the main subject, we’re aiming towards that.

“With the players we’ve got, the potential, we should be looking at places in Europe. But we’ve got to do it on the pitch, you can only focus on what’s next and that’s game by game, everybody in the club and fans, the size of it deserves to go to the next level.”