Aston Villa star warming to Man City and Arsenal as title rivals are turning his head before January
Douglas Luiz has reportedly had his ‘head turned’ by interest in him from elite Premier League clubs including Arsenal and his former side Manchester City.
Luiz has been one of the best players at Villa over the past couple of seasons. Playing under Unai Emery seems to have completely unlocked the creative spark that flickered during previous regimes.
Luiz has bagged five goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, and has been one of the league’s most impressive players.
That’s helped Villa to third in the league at Christmas. However, there’s interest in him from some of the club’s title rivals, namely Arsenal and Man City.
Villa’s stance is clear – they don’t want to sell under any circumstances, even if they receive an offer above £100million. That price tag is driven by the transfers of Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez of late.
But while Villa don’t want to lose their star in the middle of the season, and likely not at all, he apparently does not see things the same way.
Indeed, according to Football Insider, Luiz ‘has had his head turned’ by interest from the Premier League’s elite. While he is interested, it’s also stated he ‘has no plans to force a move away’.
That said, the move still seems very unlikely, with Villa not wanting to sell, and Luiz having no problems with remaining unless they accept a bid, which isn’t going to happen any time soon.
It sounds from the report as if Luiz wold simply not say no to the move to either Arsenal or City if he was offered it. That does not mean he’s actively interested.
It would be difficult to get anybody to say no to those sides, though, so it’s not a unique position.
The draw of City is a huge one for any player, given they’ve won the league the last three years on the spin. What’s more, Luiz used to be owner by City, but never played a game, so them wanting him now shows he’s ready to make the step they didn’t feel he was previously.
In any case, it’s likely he’ll remain at Villa for the foreseeable future.
