Arsenal are weighing up a move for Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz as they look set to miss out on Lyon's Bruno Guimaraes.
Lyon were expected to decide on Thursday whether to sanction the £30million sale of Guimaraes to Newcastle, with the midfielder set to undergo a medical in South America in the coming days.
While Newcastle are the favourites to complete a deal, the French club yesterday took the bizarre step of publicly denying that a fee had been agreed between the two clubs and sources close to the player insist that Arsenal may not be completely out of the picture just yet - though they would have to move exceptionally quickly to put up a fight.
Should Newcastle complete the move, Arsenal will move on to other targets and manager Mikel Arteta is a fan of Villa midfielder Luiz, having worked with the Brazilian during their time at Manchester City together.
The 23-year-old has thrived at Villa Park since leaving the Etihad but is stalling over a new deal and is attracting plenty of interest.
Villa have this month already rejected a £30million bid for Luiz from an unnamed Premier League club, though it was not the Gunners. It is unclear exactly how much the club, who are working on a deal to bring Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur to the Midlands, would demand for Luiz.
Asked about Luiz's contract situation, with his current deal up at the end of next season, manager Steven Gerrard said recently: “No, we haven't opened contract talks yet with Douglas.
“I think in this period and in this window, it has been the case of trying to strengthen the current squad, make additions and, also, find destinations for some of our younger players in terms of loans.
“Dougie has done okay for us. We've been happy with his training level and the performances that he has given.
“We still think that there's room for him to get better and improve. You know, he had a bit of an injury when we first arrived and we still think there's another gear or two for Dougie to go into.”
Arteta is keen to bolster his midfield before the deadline as the Gunners look to make a push for the Champions League places across the second half of the season.
Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves has also been considered as a potential target.
