Like a number of Aston Villa players, Douglas Luiz divides opinion amongst the fanbase, with some thinking, he is an underappreciated player, but others questioning what he brings to the table.
The 24-year-old has one-year left on his Villa contract and there are noises coming out that he could be headed for the exit door this summer.
There has been a lot of interest in Italy for his midfield talents, with Juventus adding their name, alongside Roma’s, for Luiz.
Despite all this talk, when the club’s official Instagram account bigged up their player, he responded to it on his IG story by adding a heart emoji next to the word Villa, as you can see below.
Now, this has got a lot of Villa fans talking, with some hoping that he stays put, but others simply aren’t going to read too much into it.
Some of the fanbase have pointed out that when Jack Grealish was at the club, he claimed ‘my city, my club, my home’, only to have a release clause in his contract and leave 12 months later – whilst Villa’s South American star is showing his love, it can always mean the opposite, as Grealish proved.
Luiz will, without a doubt, have huge affection for Villa as a club, at the end of the day, they helped progress his career, including watching him represent his country for the first time, as Brazil won the Gold medal with him in midfield at the Olympics last summer.
But is any of this a sign that the player will put pen-to-paper on a new contract and stay in the Midlands?
One thing is for sure, if he doesn’t sign, then Villa have to do the right thing and sell the player they paid £15 million to Manchester City (Sky Sports) for this summer – he can’t be leaving for nothing.
Luiz has shown enough during his time at the club that he is worth keeping on board.
It needs to be remembered that he has played a number six role for most of his time, is he that type of midfielder? No. Luiz is better off as a number eight with a bonafide defensive midfielder, like summer signing Boubacar Kamara, behind him.
With that type of player behind him, it will be interesting to see how Luiz fairs when he is allowed to roam forward a little more and showcase a bit of that Brazilian flair he has in his locker.
So, signing a new contract would be the best thing for the player and the club, as they push for a European place under Steven Gerrard next season.
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