Douglas Luiz ‘unleashed’ under Unai Emery, Aston Villa must keep him amid Arsenal and Liverpool interest
Unai Emery has completely turned things around at Aston Villa, with the club flying high in the Premier League and in Europe.
In the former competition, they occupy fourth spot in the table after 14 matches, while they are top of their Europa Conference League group with one match left to play.
And key to their success in recent times is midfield maestro Douglas Luiz, who is now in his fifth season at Villa Park after joining from Manchester City in 2019.
He was already starring in midfield before Emery’s arrival, but the manager has taken the Brazilian to a whole other level. As per Sky Sports’ Nick Wright (4 December), a change of role under the Spaniard has “unleashed” Luiz’s potential.
In 40 Premier League matches under the manager, the midfield star has scored 10 goals and has provided seven assists, giving him a higher combined total than in 114 matches under Emery's predecessors [Sky Sports, 4 December].
Delving further into the statistics, Sky Sports noted the player’s rise in both touches per 90 and passes per 90 over the last five seasons.
Regarding the former, the figures have risen steadily from 57.3 in 2019/20 to 81.1 in 2023/24. And concerning the latter, the numbers progress from 41.7 in 2019/20 to 63.8 in 2023/24.
Unsurprisingly, his displays have caught the eye of Premier League giants Arsenal and Liverpool [talkSPORT, 1 December], but Aston Villa really do need to do all they can to ensure a Villa Park exit does not happen anytime soon.