Aston Villa could land Leeds United star if ‘key condition’ is met as Philippe Coutinho rumour quashed

Aston Villa are gearing up for a tough task this weekend, making the trip to the capital to take on West Ham United.

Steven Gerrard’s men head to the London Stadium on the back of three straight wins, and having moved into the top half, the threat of relegation is now a distant memory.

Villa will be aiming to see out a top half finish, which would be a great end to a season that started very poorly.

In the meantime, Gerrard and his staff will be keen to get plans in place to strengthen this summer, and here we round up all the latest rumours:

Phillips requirement

Talk of Aston Villa making a move for Leeds United and England star Kalvin Phillips just won’t go away.

Villa have been tipped snap up Phillips this summer, with Gerrard said to be a big admirer of the Three Lions midfielder.

According to The Athletic, the deal is only likely to be possible if Leeds suffer relegation.

The Whites are currently just two points clear of the bottom three, and teams below them have games in hand.

No Spurs advantage in Coutinho

A strange rumour has been doing the rounds of late, with claims Tottenham might have an agreement with Barcelona to have the option to sign Villa loan star Philippe Coutinho this summer.

Sport have now quashed that talk, however, confirming that only Aston Villa have an option to buy agreement with Barca.

Coutinho has impressed on loan at Villa, though it remains to be seen whether they will activate the £33.5million clause.