Aston Villa and Juventus are reportedly still locked in talks over a player swap deal involving Douglas Luiz this summer.
Speculation has been rife over the past week or so that the Brazilian international could be heading to the Turin giants, with the deal expected to involve a fee plus Juventus players in exchange.
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However, those reported talks have been dragging on as no agreement has been found between the two clubs as of yet, and now it’s suggested that there could be a tweak to the terms in order to find a breakthrough.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Weston McKennie may no longer be involved in the deal as issues continue to prevent his exit from Juventus to join us, and so Enzo Barrenechea is now being discussed as a possible option to join Samuel Iling Jr in making the switch to join us.
It remains to be seen if that will change the transfer fee involved as McKennie and Barrenechea are surely not valued the same, and so there might be an increase in the cash element of the deal.
Based on the ongoing reports, it does seem to be a complicated situation for all parties concerned, but hopefully there will be a breakthrough sooner rather than later to allow the moves to go through as Villa are seemingly mindful of PSR this month, and need to sell before the end of June to balance our books.
Gianluca Di Marzio has gone further by reporting that McKennie is definitely out of the exchange, while Villa are open to Barrenechea taking his place, provided that there is an adjustment to the fee involved as well. He notes Matias Soule was our first request, but Juventus aren’t open to allowing him to leave.
Time will tell if the two clubs can reach a new compromise and agree on those new terms, but after seemingly being deadlocked in recent days, this latest development would suggest that there is still an opportunity to get this deal done.
From a Villa perspective, much remains the same. It will be disappointing to lose Luiz this summer, but ultimately if a sacrifice is needed and Unai Emery is open to selling him, we’ll hopefully be able to upgrade and improve the squad as a result of his departure.
Further, McKennie wasn’t a particularly popular option to come in this summer for many Villa fans, and again, if Emery and Monchi are convinced that Barrenechea is not only a top prospect with a big future ahead of him but can be a great fit for our squad, along with Iling Jr, it will strengthen the group for another big season ahead.
