Aston Villa and Juventus are reportedly now close to reaching a final agreement on a swap deal for Douglas Luiz.
Amid ongoing PSR pressure this month, the expectation has been that Villa will have to sell a high-profile player to help balance our books before the end of June.
READ MORE: Villa owner critical of PSR amid ongoing impact this summer
While speculation has linked various individuals with a departure in recent weeks, it looks as though it will be Luiz who moves on, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that Villa and Juventus are now closing in on making a deal.
Said deal will see the Brazilian midfielder move to Turin, while Villa would receive €20m, Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling Jr in return, while Romano adds that personal terms for each of the trio are now being discussed, thus suggesting that we’re advancing towards concluding the agreement.
It will be a real blow to lose Luiz given how integral he’s become under Unai Emery in that central midfield role, as he orchestrates so much of what we do with his technical ability, vision and creativity.
However, it seems as though it was inevitable that we would have to make a major sacrifice given the speculation and comments from those at the club in recent months, and the Villa boss seemingly believes that he can afford to let Luiz leave, but hopefully with the view that he will be replaced later this summer.
The 26-year-old scored 10 goals and provided 10 assists in 53 appearances across all competitions last season in his most productive campaign yet, and although he tailed off towards the end of the year and perhaps wasn’t as effective after Boubacar Kamara’s injury, there was real progress and development in his game and role, which will be missed.
Nevertheless, from a more positive perspective, Villa will add two players who can provide more competition and depth in McKennie and Iling Jr as we will need options to compete on multiple fronts moving forward, while it’s hoped that sacrificing Luiz now will put us in a strong position to be able to sign a top replacement for him before the summer transfer window closes.
