Arsenal are interested in a deal to bring Douglas Luiz to The Emirates in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by The Sun, who claim that, with Mikel Arteta growing increasingly concerned by the injury-prone Thomas Partey, the Spaniard has once again turned his attention towards the Aston Villa midfielder – for whom the Gunners saw a £23m offer rejected during the closing stages of the summer window.
However, the report goes on to state, with the 24-year-old’s current contract at Villa Park set to expire at the end of the season, Edu now believes that an offer of £15m should be enough to tempt Steven Gerrard into cashing in on the Brazil international – with the midfielder believed to be extremely keen on the idea of a move north London.
Absolute steal
While it is true that Luiz has somewhat fallen out of favour under the management of Gerrard this season, the argument that the former Manchester City starlet would make an exceptional addition to Arteta’s current options in midfield – especially for a fee in the region of £15m – is nevertheless an easy one to make.
Indeed, with Partey having missed the last nine games of the Premier League run-in last term due to a knock – something that ultimately contributed to Arsenal ceding their top four spot – as well as having already missed four fixtures this season as a result of a thigh injury – it would appear a wise move to bring in greater depth in defensive midfield.
And, considering how impressive Luiz was in the Premier League for Villa last time out, the 24-year-old would very much look to be an ideal candidate to come in and immediately strengthen Arteta’s squad.
Indeed, over his 34 league fixtures in 2021/22, the £31.5m-rated talent highly impressed in metrics typical of his defensively-minded position in the middle of the pitch, making an average of 1.7 tackles, one interception, 37.7 passes – at a success rate of 87% – and won 4.4 duels per game.
The £32k-per-week talent also chipped in for Villa going forwards, bagging two goals, providing three assists and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 0.7 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing 0.7 dribbles per fixture.
These returns saw the player who Ty Bracey dubbed “unreal” average a SofaScore match rating of 6.89, ranking him as Gerrard’s ninth-best performer in the league last time out – playing a key role in Villa securing a comfortable mid-table finish.
As such, considering his solid displays in the middle of the park, his potential for future development and the fact the Brazilian currently boasts a market value of £16.5m more than Arsenal’s planned offer, should Edu manage to get a £15m deal over the line for Luiz this January it would undoubtedly represent an absolute steal for the Gunners.
