Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard is coy over their interest in Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

Gerrard is said to have spoken with his former Liverpool teammate about a move to Villa Park this month.

He said today: "I've never done it before and I won't start now, talking about individual players. I wouldn't want anyone to talk about my players, even though I understand the speculation - it's that time of year.

"63 caps for Brazil, a serial winner, was incredible at Liverpool, so I can understand why he's linked to a lot of football clubs. I can understand why a lot of supporters up and down the country are speaking about him, I don't think you get the nickname of 'the magician' unless you're a special footballer, so he's someone I have a heck of a lot of respect for.

"But I don't want to add to any of the speculation, because he belongs to Barcelona."