Aston Villa are reportedly set to sign Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz from Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions Manchester City.
Aston Villa’s next reported summer signing really has come right out of the blue.
With Glenn Whelan and Mile Jedinak bidding farewell in the aftermath of May’s promotion party, it is no secret that the Premier League newcomers need a new deep-lying midfielder amid links with Kalvin Phillips, Marvelous Nakamba and Baptiste Santamaria.
But no one had talked about Manchester City starlet Douglas Luiz – until now, that is.
According to The Telegraph, Aston Villa are poised to complete the signing of the 21-year-old Brazilian in the next few days for a fee of £15 million.
This means Luiz is set to leave the Premier League champions without ever making a first team appearance – though that doesn’t mean he isn’t rated very highly indeed by Pep Guardiola.
In fact, if it wasn’t for work permit problems that forced City to loan him out to Girona for the last two years, Luiz might have already established himself under the former Barcelona boss.
“He has potential – real potential,” Guardiola told the club’s official website last summer. “He’s physically strong and he wants to learn. It was a good experience but he didn’t play regularly in Girona.”
Given that Guardiola has nurtured some of the greatest talent in world football today, you won’t need reminding that he is a pretty good judge of character. If he says Luiz has ‘real potential’ then Aston Villa could be about to pull off a real £15 million coup.
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