With Douglas Luiz’s star on the rise at English Premier League side Aston Villa and Brazilian international recognition going his way on the back of it, plenty of eyebrows were raised when the Midlands side opted to sell him last summer in a £50 odd million player swap deal with Italian Serie A side Juventus.
The 26 year old, 18 capped, former Manchester City talent has, however, not had the best of starts to life in Turin and to date has only made two starts for them, with eleven appearances coming as a substitute. Despite signing a five year deal at the club, it is now being reported that the Old Lady are ready to cash back in on him and are very happy to do so as long as they can make their original outlay back during this months January transfer window.
Naturally, given his previous success in the English game, top flight clubs from across the Channel are being linked with having an interest in him, and Tottenham Hotspur join former club Aston Villa in being at the front of the pile on the speculation rumour mill.
The problem for Juventus here seems to be that both Villa and Spurs would prefer a loan deal this month, and then potentially readdress their options come the end of the campaign and made a decision on a permanent capture over the summer months, so even if a permanent fee was negotiated as part of a loan, Juve may not be able to rely on an obligated arrangement that is not common place in the modern game.
Luiz’s talent is not up for debate, but for whatever reason he has not been able to recapture his form and many in the Italian media are happy to label him as a ‘disaster’ of a signing, and rather than persevere and get him back to his best, the club themselves have informed him of their desire to see him move on and just cut their losses.
If this speculation does prove to be true, fans can expect to see both Arsenal and Manchester City appear in a few headlines shortly. It had long been claimed that Mikel Arteta was a long term admirer of the player, and it is widely believed that former gaffer Pep Guardiola did in fact not want City to sell him back originally in the summer of 2019, and their current injury situation (and form) is well known, and Luiz could certainly do a job for them in the middle of the park.
With his game time, this could certainly be a story to watch over the next few weeks.
