Having previously addressed speculation involving an exit from Villa Park, Douglas Luiz appears to be getting closer to a move to Italian giants Juventus.
Luiz has been consistently linked with the likes of Arsenal for the past couple of seasons but in December he put to bed any ideas of a move. Luiz claimed "I am happy to hear the stories but I am here at Aston Villa. My focus is totally here."
The last couple of seasons has seen a massive improvement in Douglas Luiz's performances for Villa and therefore his value has risen as a result. It is believed that Luiz could leave the club for a fee in the regions of £60-70 million, but this deal would look a little different.
It is highly likely that should the negotiations continue to progress then Villa would receive significantly less than that mentioned figure, but it would see McKennie head to Villa Park as his replacement. McKennie is believed to be worth around half the value of Luiz and therefore the deal is looking like around £30 million plus McKennie.
Luiz has been a vital player for Villa in the past few years and especially in the previous campaign. Luiz was a heavily influential figure in Villa's Champions League charge and he accumulated 9 goals and 5 assists in the Premier League in 2023/24.
Despite this, Luiz's form took a massive hit in the final third of the season and left many fans wondering if losing Luiz would be a significant blow or whether he is fairly replaceable.
The sale of Luiz could be important in helping Villa to stay in line with the Premier League's PSR rules, whilst Juventus will be looking to upgrade their squad after a season that saw them fall further behind the likes of Milan and Inter. Juventus finished 3rd in Serie A, 23 points behind winners Inter.
Due to the value of each player, the negotations are reportedly proving to be complicated but it seems that the talks are advancing quickly and a deal could be finalised within the next couple of weeks.
UTV