Amid ongoing speculation that Douglas Luiz could leave Aston Villa this summer, is it a sacrifice that Unai Emery is prepared to make?
As discussed by the Telegraph this week after being widely reported for some time now, like many other clubs, Villa face the potential risk of breaching PSR, and the possible threat of facing the subsequent sanctions.
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It’s hoped that a fundamental vote among Premier League clubs this week raises the current accepted threshold to £135m in losses over a three-year period, thus giving Villa more room to breathe, but the suggestions of us having to sell this summer to balance our books continues to cause concern.
Various players have been paired with a departure with the PSR factor in mind, most notably it was Jacob Ramsey earlier in the year as given he’s a homegrown player, a significant transfer fee could go a long way in strengthening our financial position and spending power this summer.
Emery will undoubtedly want to avoid losing any of his key players in the coming weeks, as ideally we’d be focused on purely strengthening his squad to build on last season and continue to raise our level to compete for major honours.
However, the reality is seemingly that we may have to consider a high-profile sale, and as per Gianluca Di Marzio, but followed on by La Gazzetta dello Sport (GdS), it could be Luiz who is sacrificed to help us avoid PSR trouble.
Di Marzio notes Villa value the Brazilian international at €60m, while a swap deal involving Weston McKennie could be in the offing as Juventus want to prise Luiz away from us.
Meanwhile, GdS add that Luiz has already given his approval to a move to Turin as negotiations continue over an exchange which would see McKennie move in the opposite direction, and so are we looking at the big exit being Luiz this summer?
The 26-year-old had a brilliant season last year, scoring 10 goals and providing 10 assists in 53 appearances across all competitions. While he tailed off in the latter stages of the campaign, he has come a long way under Emery, showing real progression and development under the Basque coach.
With his ability to dictate and control games in central midfield, we’d certainly be losing an influential player, but is he indispensable or expendable?
From a personal perspective, Ramsey leaving would really hurt and be a very disappointing solution. Other fundamental individuals in the squad are too important to lose, and while there are perhaps others who we could look to move on before entertaining a Luiz exit, will it be a significant enough fee to help our PSR position?
If Emery green lights a departure for the Brazilian, he’ll do so knowing that he has an important signing in mind to help us fill that void with a player who fits our structure and style of play as effectively, and perhaps more so.
That’s not to say it’s an easy issue to fix if Luiz moves on and McKennie wouldn’t be the answer aside from adding depth in that area of the squad, but Emery demands a player who can control games for him in that position on a consistent basis and set the tempo and rhythm of our play to dominate possession, and there are arguably more of those options out there than other premium positions.
Hopefully there’s a path forward where we can avoid any major sales this summer, but for now, Luiz appears to be the latest big name in the Villa squad linked with a departure.
McKennie is a lightweight, championship player at best, if Luiz has to go, take the 60 million without McKennie and use the money wisely.