Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz showed his quality against Arsenal last night with reports linking the Brazilian with a £15 million transfer to the Emirates Stadium.
Luiz came off the bench to play the final quarter of Villa's loss against the Gunners and scored the visitors' equaliser from a corner kick, with the ball bypassing everyone and flying straight into the back of Aaron Ramsdale's net. After the game, Villa boss Steven Gerrard seemingly opened the door for the Brazilian midfielder to leave the club on Deadline Day, admitting 'the club has to do what is best for the club'.
A central midfielder is thought to be Arsenal's priority area to strengthen, with both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny set for a period on the sidelines after picking up injuries earlier this week. football.london understands that Luiz is among a list of players that the Gunners have looked at in the past, with January 2022 the last time he was seriously considered by Edu and Co.
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Mikel Arteta will have liked what he saw from his team once again as the north Londoners controlled the game and were quick to make amends after conceding an unusual equaliser. It was a night for the Brazilians, as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli were enough to cancel out Luiz's corner-kick finish.
There seems to be a growing core of Brazilian talents at the Emirates Stadium with the arrival of Jesus and Marquinhos this summer, and that could be set to continue with both Luiz and Palmeiras talent Danilo linked with a move to north London. The Villa midfielder has just one year left on his current deal with the West Midlands club and could be available.
Villa boss Gerrard was clear that he wishes to keep the talented midfielder who can play as a No.6 or No.8, but claimed he is not in control of the situation. Speaking after the defeat to Arsenal, Gerrard said: "I am not in control of that. There are more than two people in control of that, and I am certainly not one of them.
"That will be Douglas, that will be his agent, that will be what happens. I would like to keep him, he is a fantastic player. I have made that abundantly clear.
"We are 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, not necessarily what is best for me."
After putting in an impressive cameo at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, Luiz may have caught the eye of Arsenal's recruitment team. The Brazilian represents a smart deal having already notched up valuable Premier League experience, with the quality to cover in key areas for the Gunners and he would likely fit in quickly with the help of Jesus, Martinelli and co.
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