Time’s running out on Deadline Day but Arsenal are determined to secure a move for wantaway Aston Villa star, Douglas Luiz.
The Gunners have already brought in a number of players this summer as Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have all joined-up with Mikel Arteta’s team.
Their integration into the squad has been helped by the fact that there’s a feelgood factor at the Emirates thus far this season. With five wins from five, Arsenal sit top of the tree heading into the all-important trip to Erik ten Hag’s new look Manchester United on Sunday.
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However, injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny mean that the Gunners are a little light in the midfield area. Widespread reports have now suggested that Edu and Co. are working hard to secure a late transfer for Brazilian star, Douglas Luiz.
Villa are closing in on a move for Wolves midfielder Leander Dendoncker, suggesting that the club now have a replacement if Luiz were allowed to leave on Deadline Day. Arsenal’s recent recruitment under Edu and Arteta’s guidance has been second to none so there’ll be few doubting their approach for Luiz.
That argument can be strengthened by the fact that he’s someone Pep Guardiola rates highly too. Luiz signed for City in 2017 but due to complications over a work permit, he never played for the Cityzens. Instead, he was loaned out to Girona for two seasons before subsequently signing for Villa in 2019.
Guardiola was left disappointed that he couldn’t work with Luiz. Speaking after a game between City and Villa in 2021, the Spaniard explained that Luiz is talented because he’s ‘clever’ and ‘strong’: “He’s a guy who's played a lot of minutes, he's an important player for Aston Villa,” he said, as cited by the MEN.
"A guy who's clever with the ball, he's so physical and strong.”
Guardiola continued by explaining that he was encouraged by Luiz’s development at Villa Park: "He's a lovely guy, unfortunately when he came, due to the work permit, he could not play. I'm happy he's developing really, really well. Today, when he was involved in the game defensively, he was good."
Given how Arteta adopts a similar philosophy to Guardiola, emphasised by the fact that they like similarly profiled players, it’s easy to see why Arteta is interested in bringing Luiz to the Emirates. Arsenal fans will now just be hoping for a deal to be completed.
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