Journalist Dan Bardell has been discussing Aston Villa’s 22-year-old central midfielder Douglas Luiz during a recent edition of The Villa View Podcast.
Following the club’s defeat at Anfield on Sunday, Bardell of The Athletic has been speaking about what the future may hold for the Brazilian and whether or not the Birmingham-based club will be able to recover the investment they made in the player if they are relegated down to the Championship.
Speaking on the podcast, he said: “If we go down, anyone could just come in and offer Villa to make money on the £15m that they paid for him in the summer. So it’s quite easy to say that someone will come and snap him up because as much as I didn’t see what other people were telling me before Christmas and around Christmas, you can’t argue with what I’ve seen in those five games back and he’s just looked way more astute positionally.
“He’s been excellent, he’s broken the play up well, he’s used the ball well, he’s got confidence on the ball and he’s cut out the dwelling and the silly errors that he’s made on the ball before the break. Someone will have him off us, that’s an absolute fact.”
The Brazilian Under-23 international joined Manchester City in 2017 from Brazilian side Vasco da Gama. After spending almost two years out on loan with Girona, Aston Villa made their move for the player last summer in a deal reportedly worth £15.12m (via Transfermarkt.co.uk).
Do you expect there to be much interest in Douglas Luiz this summer?
Yes
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TIF Thoughts…
Since moving to the Midlands, Luiz has made 37 appearances for the club contributing three goals and two assists. According to WhoScored.com, his average performance rating in the Premier League this season currently stands at 6.56/10 which we feel is respectable given his age and the fact that Dean Smith’s side have struggled so far.
Since the league’s restart in June, Dean Smith’s side have picked up two points from five games and their defeat yesterday afternoon at the hands of the Premier League champions leaves them currently in 18th place, a point behind Watford – therefore, relegation is a real possibility.
If they are to be relegated to the Championship, given Luiz is valued at £16.2m, if the interest is there, we could see the club decide to cash in on the player for financial reasons.