Aston Villa could reportedly make an important change to the composition of our midfield this summer amid ongoing speculation regarding Douglas Luiz and Conor Gallagher.
After securing fourth place in the Premier League last season, we’ll not only look to establish ourselves as a consistent presence in the top four domestically, but also try to make a positive impression in the Champions League.
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That in turn will require reinforcements to strengthen and improve Unai Emery’s squad, but the threat of breaching PSR and risking sanctions continues to loom over us as per reports, as we seemingly must balance our books and sell in order to fund our own spending to stay within the parameters of those regulations.
According to the Daily Mail, Villa are open to selling Luiz, and Juventus are said to be prepared to offer around £25m-£30m plus Weston McKennie in their proposal to prise the Brazilian international away from us.
It’s added that Jhon Duran and Jacob Ramsey are also potential options to move on in order to stabilise our financial position, but the interest in Luiz at this stage seems to be the most tangible, while it’s suggested that Villa are willing to sacrifice him if it means possibly keeping others.
Meanwhile, the Guardian report that Villa are in talks with Chelsea over a deal for Gallagher, but it’s noted that it could take a bid of around £50m to convince our Premier League rivals to green light a transfer.
The report goes on to add that Emery is a real admirer of the 24-year-old given what he could add to the side with his tenacity, energy and technical ability, and with Villa lacking in those departments while also needing to add competition and depth to cope with what will be another gruelling campaign, adding multiple midfielders in place of Luiz could prove to be an astute strategy.
Time will tell if the pieces fall into place for the touted midfield reshuffle to happen, and while in an ideal world we’d be able to keep all of our influential players at the club and strengthen around them, it does seem as though difficult decisions will need to be made this summer in order to try and come out of the transfer window in a stronger position to compete.
There is a crucial vote for Premier League clubs on June 6 to determine if the level of losses in PSR will be raised to £135m over a three-year period, and so it remains to be seen how big an impact that has for us moving forward.