Philippe Coutinho has been ruled OUT of the World Cup after suffering a thigh injury during training

Aston Villa star Philippe Coutinho has been ruled out for up to 10 weeks and will miss the World Cup.

The Brazil international has suffered a quadricep injury, with a seven week return his best case scenario.

The Brazil playmaker was already facing an uphill struggle to make the squad due to a loss of form and lack of regular action, but the injury now rules the 30-year-old out of Qatar 2022.

Philippe Coutinho (pictured) is a major doubt for the world Cup after suffering training injury

Coutinho (right) missed Villa’s 3-1 win over Manchester United with a reported thigh injury

Coutinho was not in the squad for Aston Villa’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United and new boss Unai Emery said he would not be available for Thursday’s Carabao Cup tie at Old Trafford, or the Premier League fixture at Brighton next weekend.

The Spaniard was extremely pessimistic about Coutinho’s chances of making the tournament in Qatar, which starts in less than two weeks’ time and it has now been confirmed he will miss the tournament with injury. 

Coutinho joined Villa on loan from Barcelona last January to great fanfare and even though his performances were mixed, Villa decided to buy him permanently for £17million.

The move for Coutinho was pushed by Steven Gerrard, who was sacked last month, and has yet to produce the results hoped for.

This latest injury casts further question marks over what may be his long-term role at the club under Emery.

Villa Boss Unai Emery (right) was ‘extremely pessimistic’ about his chances of going to Qatar

Coutinho (left) was already facing an uphill battle to make squad after a run of poor displays