Roma are reportedly set to step up their pursuit of Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz this summer.
Luiz, 24, has established himself as a key member of the Villa squad and a regular presence in the starting line-up under Steven Gerrard since he was appointed.
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With that in mind, it perhaps makes little sense to sell an important player, but there are factors in favour of considering a possible exit in the coming months.
As per the Daily Mail, Jose Mourinho is expected to push to prise Luiz away from Villa, with the Italian giants said to have been interested in the Brazilian international since last year.
It’s added that Villa could be tempted to sell given Luiz only has one year remaining on his current contract, and an exit could give Gerrard some flexibility to then strengthen his squad elsewhere.
Having moved for Boubacar Kamara this week, Villa finally now have a defensive, holding midfielder to play the No.6 role, and that has been a problematic position for us with Luiz filling in but not quite convincing as much as he does when he’s in a more advanced role.
With competition for places ramping up in midfield, time will tell if he’s set to feature as heavily next season as he has done, and with his contract situation in mind too, there are question marks and a potential exit begins to make more sense.
VIlla have moved to tie down key figures to new deals in recent months, with the likes of Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash and Jacob Ramsey among those to have put pen to paper on fresh agreements.
The fact that Luiz hasn’t and time is running out to agree new terms before the threat of losing him for nothing becomes more concerning, time will tell if he is moved on this summer.