Emi Martinez sends instant message as Aston Villa transfer finalised
Aston Villa’s winter transfer window is coming alive as the 2 February deadline nears.
Tammy Abraham has returned to Aston Villa after lengthy speculation over a move back to the West Midlands, with the 28-year-old joining for around £18.25million from Besiktas.
Meanwhile, news of Raheem Sterling’s release from Chelsea could interest Villa, with Unai Emery strongly linked with bringing the experienced forward to Villa Park in the summer of 2024.
Union Berlin defender Danilho Doekhi has also been linked to Villa, and could arrive to bolster Emery’s centre-back ranks ahead of the deadline.
Emi Martinez reacts to Douglas Luiz’s Aston Villa return
However, it hasn’t all been positives in the past few days for Aston Villa, with Youri Tielemans suffering a serious injury against Newcastle last Sunday.
The Belgian midfielder is now set to miss the next eight-10 weeks, meaning Emery’s midfield metronome may not return until around the second week of April.
With Villa still very much in the Premier League title race, losing such a key player in a vital area of the pitch has the potential to carry major consequences with it.
But thankfully, Abraham isn’t the only player making a return to Villa Park this winter, as it was confirmed on Wednesday that Douglas Luiz has signed on an initial loan deal from Juventus, with an option to make it permanent if Villa wish.
The 27-year-old left Villa to join Juventus in the summer of 2024, but spent just one season in Turin before being loaned out to Nottingham Forest for the first half of this season.
It’s a signing that many Villans will be delighted with, as the Brazil international was a quality player during his time in B6.
One player who is over the moon to see him return is goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who responded almost instantly to Luiz’s announcement post on Aston Villa’s official Instagram account.
Martinez’ short message to Luiz translated to: “Now, that’s more like it.”
Why Luiz should still be top signing for Villa despite recent struggles
In Luiz’s final 2023-24 season with Aston Villa, he bagged a superb goal contributions return of 10 goals and 10 assists in 53 total appearances.
As per Sofascore, he made 204 appearances for Villa in all competitions during his first stint, and registered a passing accuracy of 86.54 per cent across his first five seasons at Villa Park.
However, he did only start three times in Serie A for Juventus last season, and made just five starts in eight total Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest in the first half of this term.
But, Luiz proved that he can perform at a top-class level in the Premier League at B6, and now that he’s back on familiar ground and working under a manager that got the best out of him before, he can shine once again.
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