Aston Villa will be ‘tempted’ to sell Douglas Luiz in January – Ashley Preece
Journalist Ashley Preece believes Aston Villa will be tempted to “cash-in” on midfielder Douglas Luiz in the January transfer window.
The Brazil international was heavily linked with a number of clubs in the summer, where Arsenal in particular tried to sign him on a deadline day.
Birmingham Live journalist Preece, while talking to Givemesport, suggested that Villa might be tempted to sell the player in winter before losing him on a free.
“Villa will be tempted to cash-in,” he said. “He [Luiz] has been a bit of a decent servant for three years and it was a good deal with Manchester City.
“He was crucial in Villa staying up in Project Restart and he was their best player by far during that time.
“He’s been played out of position at times during his Villa career as well and done well, but now there is a big decision on Purslow’s shoulders.”
Important player
Villa returned to the Premier League and despite many predicting them to go down once again a couple of years back, they’ve managed to stay up.
One of the reasons why the Villans managed to keep their place in the top flight was because of some incredible performances of two players in particular, Jack Grealish and Luiz.
While the former has already left the club and joined Manchester City for £100million, the Brazil international is still at Villa Park, producing impressive performances every now and then.
Despite his slump in form, and especially after a serious injury to new recruit Boubacar Kamara, there is no way Villa should let go a player of Luiz’s quality, since in January when it will be harder to find an apt replacement.
The fans will be hoping that Steven Gerrard and other officials at the club will be able to persuade the 24-year-old in extending his stay beyond the summer of 2023.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton says points are more important than performances right now.