According to a report from SPORT, Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz is eager to join Barcelona and he has been constantly asking Deco to make an offer to Villa.
Douglas Luiz joined Villa in 2019 and currently, he is one of the top central/defensive midfielders in the Premier League. Deco is said to be very fond of the midfielder but apart from Barcelona, Juventus and Arsenal are also keen to land him this summer.
Luiz is a very important player for Villa, more so because they will now be playing in the Champions League, but Unai Emery and Monchi are ready to cash in on the Brazilian international if they receive a fee of around €70 million which also happens to be his current market value.
Will Barcelona go after a player like Douglas Luiz?
Hansi Flick wants to add a new central midfielder to his ranks and Barca have been linked with players like Joshua Kimmich, Kobbie Mainoo and Martin Zubimendi.
A player like Douglas Luiz will be a great signing because, in five years, he has played more than 200 games for Aston Villa and under Unai Emery, he has been a very consistent performer. This season, he has 14 goal contributions in 35 Premier League matches which is very impressive given the fact that he is a central midfielder.
Luiz has an xG on target of 9.44 from 17 shots on targets and a passing accuracy of 89.4%. He has created 53 chances in the league this season and has made 5 assists.
Barcelona are going to offload a few midfielders this summer due to the need for funds but despite his talents, we don’t think Douglas Luiz is going to be someone who will come in as a long-term replacement.
Will Arsenal or Juventus move ahead of Barcelona in this transfer race?
Deco might be a big fan of Douglas Luiz but there’s no way that the Catalan can afford to pay €70 million for the 26-year-old.
Barca are going back to the 1:1 rule which means they will have to generate all the money they wish to spend and we don’t think they can bring in €70 million from player sales before Arsenal or Juventus strike a deal with the Villa Park outfit.
Juventus are planning to offer a cash-plus-player deal by offering midfielder Weston McKennie in exchange for Douglas Luiz while Arsenal won’t mind spending €70 million on the Villa man. Mikel Arteta has been tracking Luiz for over a year and now with Thomas Partey set to leave, the Gunners need a long-term replacement.
Barcelona have put up players like Ronald Araujo, Kounde and De Jong for sale but these transfers are going to take time to go through. If Douglas Luiz is keen to join only Barca then he will not only have to snub both Arsenal and Juventus but will also have to wait until the very end of the transfer window.
