Aston Villa are being linked with a move for a Champions League midfielder, but how does he compare to Douglas Luiz.
It has been reported by a Spanish outlet that Wijnaldum could be moving to Aston Villa in the summer as he is not impressing people at Paris-Saint Germain which could be a major statement for the Villans given his experience in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Given the wealth of Aston Villa’s owners and the clear plans they have in mind of getting back to the top of English football and challenging for Europe, it would not be a surprise to see them drop a bid for Wijnaldum love the summer.
Who would be better for Villa?
Wijnaldum!
Luiz!
However, if Wijnaldum was to arrive at Villa Park, could that be the end of Douglas Luiz’s time with the Midlands side? Let’s see how the two midfielders compare:
Georginio Wijnaldum
Immediately, Wijnaldum stands out as a bigger name considering he’s won the Premier League, Champions League and Eredivise, whereas Luiz is yet to pick up any domestic silverware during his career, so it would appear, on paper, to be a big upgrade.
Wijnaldum would bring a winner’s mentality to the dressing room and if he could arrive alongside Philippe Coutinho in the summer that would certainly make the rest of the league sit up and take notice that Villa really aren’t here just to make up the numbers anymore, they’re wanting to compete.
The Dutch captain is a player that’s very comfortable on the ball even in the Premier League as last season he racked up 1983 touches and 34 dribbles, compared to Luiz who appears to be a lot more limited in this department with just 1701 touches and 24 dribbles (FBRef), despite starting just two fewer games than Wijnaldum.
Having someone that’s comfortable on the ball would allow Villa to dominate against other teams a lot more often and thus, impose themselves on sides which would likely result in more goals and wins if they’re on top of sides, which is something they’ve failed to do this year ranking in the bottom half for average possession of the ball.
Douglas Luiz
While Luiz has started 20 league games this season, it appears clear that he’s still not 100% happy at Aston Villa with reports in January claiming that he was being linked with a move for top-four chasing Arsenal.
Luis is Villa’s enforcer in midfield playing predominantly as a defensive midfielder, however, he’s still only won the same amount of tackles as attacker Emi Buendia, which is a concern for someone who’s supposed to be solid in breaking up play and protecting the back four.
A lot of the top teams now want to press the opposition high and often, however that appears to be something that Luiz either can’t do or doesn’t want to do as last season just 25.9% of his pressures were successful and this season it’s only marginally better with 33% of them coming good (FBRef).
Compare this to Wijnaldum, who also has goals in his locker as well as this work effort, last season his pressing success rate was 36.2%, and this campaign it stands at 34.3% (FBRef), so it’s night and day between the two of them.
TIF Verdict
Luiz has been a loyal servant for Villa and even under Gerrard for this short amount of time, however, if someone of Wijnaldum’s calibre and state is going to be on the market, they can’t be turning their nose up at him.
Despite being 31-years old, Wijnaldum should only last year what he can do for a top side as he featured heavily for Liverpool, so if Gerrard can shift Luiz on to another club in the summer then that would leave a spot seemingly perfectly made for Wijnaldum.
The most interesting thing is the fact that Wijnaldum is a big fan of the former Liverpool man, as he stated back in 2020 that Gerrard is one of the best midfielders to ever play the game.
In other news: Aston Villa share outrageous training ground footage on Instagram