Aston Villa want £50m for Arsenal target as Romano weighs up ‘swap deal’ chances
Aston Villa are open to selling Arsenal-linked midfielder Douglas Luiz for £50million amidst interest from clubs in Italy, according to reports.
Luiz starred in the Aston Villa midfield in 2023/24, helping the Midlands qualify for the Champions League via a fourth-place finish in the Premier League.
Arsenal target at Aston Villa worth £50m this summer
He has been admired at Arsenal for a while and the Gunners reportedly came close to landing the Brazilian international on deadline day in the 2022 summer transfer window.
They offered up to £25million for Luiz but Villa – then managed by Steven Gerrard – were not interested in selling.
Since then, Luiz’s game has elevated to a new level under the management of Unai Emery.
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There was talk of the 26-year-old costing as much as £100m but due to the Villans’ financial issues, Luiz could be sold for half that price.
According to the Mirror, Arsenal have been informed that Luiz will cost £50m if they want to reignite their interest in the player this summer.
The report claims that Juventus and AC Milan are also keen, with the former ‘leading the race’, according to reports elsewhere.
A swap deal including Old Lady midfielder Weston McKennie is not ruled out. The American spent the second half of 22/23 on loan at Leeds, where he was woeful.
This would be an interesting deal and McKennie was linked with Villa last month, but with the Premier League club desperate to raise funds, it feels unlikely that they will agree to this.
Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano believes Luiz could be ‘a player to watch’ due to the Villans’ financial situation.
Romano – writing for CaughtOffside – says Juventus’ current ‘top target’ is Liverpool-linked Atalanta midfielder Teun Koopmeiners so will only pursue Luiz if an ‘opportunity’ presents itself, ‘perhaps with a swap deal’.
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The Italian transfer expert is not sure if Arsenal will make a move for Luiz this summer despite Mikel Arteta’s desire to sign a new No. 6.
He wrote:
‘Another player to watch could be Douglas Luiz because Aston Villa are under pressure financially to sell one player in the next weeks, and there is interest in Luiz from Juventus.
Again, Juve’s top target is Koopmeiners, so Luiz would have to be an opportunity, perhaps with a swap deal, while clubs from the Premier League will also move.
Luiz has always been appreciated by Arsenal and he was close to joining them two years ago, so let’s see if they decide to return or not, though at the moment they are not actively working on this one.
Still, Luiz looks like one to watch for Juve, Arsenal, and maybe other clubs too because for Villa, the Brazilian midfielder could be one to watch in terms of possible outgoings to stay in line with Financial Fair Play.’
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