Aston Villa are now ready to sell Arsenal target Douglas Luiz for an affordable fee this summer.
The Gunners are on the market for a new midfielder, and the Brazil international has been on Mikel Arteta’s radar for a long time.
Luiz was even branded as Arsenal’s ‘dream’ signing in the 2024 January transfer window, but no move materialised back then.
Now, Arsenal could land him for an affordable fee thanks to Aston Villa’s problems with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Aston Villa set affordable asking price for Arsenal target Douglas Luiz
Aston Villa were adamant that they will not sell Luiz to Arsenal in January.
The Gunners were interested in strengthening their midfield, but they couldn’t sign anyone without making a big sale of their own.
To make things worse, Aston Villa demanded over £100 million for Luiz, which is a ridiculous amount of money for a player like him.
Now, Arsenal could be in the clear to sign the Brazilian for a much cheaper fee.
Brazilian outlet Lance have revealed that Villa could be forced to sell Luiz this summer due to their problems with Financial Fair Play.
Unai Emery’s side are said to be ‘under pressure’ to make sales this month to balance the books, and Luiz is viewed as someone they could cash in on.
The report claims that Arsenal and Juventus are both interested in signing the midfielder, who will be available now for just £50 million.
The Metro back the above claim and add that Juventus are currently leading the race for Luiz.
However, the Italian giants ‘are aware of Arsenal’s current interest in Luiz and that the Premier League runners-up could launch a rival move this summer’.
Luiz did one thing even better than Declan Rice
Declan Rice was arguably the best midfielder in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season.
The Englishman joined Arsenal from West Ham United and hit the ground running. He was absolutely unbelievable for the Gunners in the middle of the park.
Luiz was just as important for Aston Villa last season, and he directly contributed to more goals for Emery’s side than Rice did at Arsenal.
The Brazil international scored 10 goals and provided 10 assists in all competitions for Villa in the 2023/24 campaign. 19 of those 20 direct goal contributions came in the Premier League.
Rice, on the other hand, scored seven goals and provided 10 assists in all competitions. 16 of those 17 goal contributions came in the Premier League.