Villa News Speaking to Alan Hutton

Tue 28 March 2023 16:10, UK

We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…

Douglas Luiz will be “annoyed” at being left out of the Brazil squad due to how well he’s performing at Aston Villa, according to Alan Hutton.

Luiz, 24, was left out of Ramon Menezes’ squad for a friendly match against Morocco on Saturday (25 March) but the Brazilians lost the game 2-1 in Tangier.

While Hutton admits it’s difficult for Brazilians to win call-ups to their national team, the ex-Villa right-back believes Luiz will be frustrated by missing out on the team that went to World Cup semi-finalists Morocco – especially when he’d have been sat at home watching them lose.

When asked if Brazil regret not calling up Luiz, Hutton told Villa News: “Probably not in terms of the manager because he made his decision, he picked his squad and he’ll live and die by that decision.

“It’ll affect Douglas Luiz more than anything because he’ll be probably watching it and he’ll be annoyed he’s not taken part.

“But when you look at their squad, there are some fantastic footballers and it’s probably one of the hardest squads to get into.

“I don’t think you can down yourself too much.

“If you can continue in the form you’re in, I’m sure in the future there’ll be another call-up for him.”

Luiz has played 29 times in all competitions for Aston Villa this season, scoring four goals and supplying five assists in the process.

He found the net in Villa’s final game before the international break when he scored in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth at Villa Park on 18 March.

The former Manchester City defensive midfielder has been capped nine times by Brazil with his last one coming in a 4-1 win over Uruguay in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in October 2021.

In other Aston Villa news, a game-changing signing is on the cards at Villa Park this summer amid speculation of a big-name transfer.