Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz has emerged as a prime target for Arsenal as they look to sign a midfielder on deadline day.
The Gunners are in the market for a midfielder after Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny suffered injuries.
The club had been looking at a deal for Palmeiras’ Danilo, but the Brazilian club have no plans to sell their prized asset now.
Luiz has now emerged as an option and Villa could be forced to sell as he has less than one year to run on his current contract.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY LIVE!
Villa are currently insisting he is not for sale, however that stance may change as the transfer window reaches its final stages.
Asked on Wednesday if he was confident of keeping Luiz, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard said: “I’m not in control of that. That will be Douglas, his agent and what happens around that.
“I’d like to keep him, he’s a fantastic player. I’ve made that abundantly clear.
“We’re not in a position where we need to lose our top players but, at the same time Douglas has got a year to go and it is one of those really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, even if it is not necessarily best for me.”
