Steven Gerrard has made it clear to Mikel Arteta that he should stay away from signing Douglas Luiz after his performance against Newcastle.
Aston Villa came out disappointing 1-0 losers to the Magpies on Sunday afternoon, and the display by Gerrard’s side was certainly underwhelming.
Luiz started in the midfield however was largly non-existent throughout, and had given away possession of the ball on occasions, which led to Steven Gerrard angrily calling out his name according to the Birmingham Mail.
The Brazilian midfielder had been linked to Arsenal, however, Arteta has high expectations from his players, and such a performance from Luiz could prevent the Spaniard from pursuing a deal.
Arteta’s side is short of depth in the midfield positions and constant injuries and suspensions in the middle of the pitch is weakening the team.
And it is set to get even more daunting for the middle of the park ahead of next season, as football.london understands that the Granit Xhaka is still attracting interest from Italian side Roma, which could see him depart from the club, while Mohammed Elneny’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season.
Arteta is familiar with Luiz, as they worked together whilst they were both employed at Manchester City. The Brazilian struggled to break into Pep Guardiola’s team but it seemed that he matured as a player since joining Aston Villa.
However, his performance and his current contract situation is starting to suggest otherwise, which could turn Arteta away from a deal, considering the high expectations he has to be a midfielder in his team.
The Spaniard expects his midfielder to put in hard graft, and show the right attitude otherwise the player’s position in the team, will certainly be lost, which was proved with Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil.
Guendouzi had been constantly criticised for his attitude problems which was seen by fans after his antics against Brighton in 2020 after his altercation with Neal Maupay led to the Seagull players complaining that Guendouzi was belittling them.
Arteta never gave him a Premier League start after this and shipped him out on loan to the German side Hertha Berlin as soon as the transfer window opened.
The current Arsenal boss was also quick to sell Mesut Ozil at the earliest given opportunity as he was a player that caused numerous of issues in the dressing room.
Poor performances in a central midfield position can be contagious throughout the rest of the team, due to that area being the focal point on a football pitch, and if Luiz continues to have lackadaisical displays until the end of the season under Gerrard, then Arteta will certainly turn away from a deal.
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