Why Aston Villa didn't need to replace Douglas Luiz in the summer

Aston Villa's PSR problems were clear for all to see in the summer and they were forced to sell one of their key players, Douglas Luiz. The Brazilian midfielder spent five years at the club and was one of the driving forces behind Villa's push for Champions League qualification. However, with the club needing to raise funds through player transfers to comply with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules it was obvious that Luiz would be the one to leave. And so, he joined Juventus for a fee of £42 million which helped Villa cross the financial line and ensure there was no points penalty awarded.

Luiz's departure to Juventus made fans nervous and excited to see what business Villa would complete to replace him. Ross Barkley was brought in from Luton Town, Enzo Barrenechea came in from Juventus as part of the Luiz deal, and Amadou Onana arrived for a club-record fee from Everton. In terms of midfield signings, that was the job done for Villa and fans really started to worry that Luiz's qualities hadn't been replaced going into a Champions League season. However, his replacement was already at the club and that man was signed over 12 months ago in anticipation of Luiz's exit.

Villa's ready-made replacement for Luiz

Youri Tielemans was signed on a free transfer from Leicester City in July 2023. The Belgian international midfielder, capped 73 times by his country, brought a wealth of experience to the club. Despite being one of the Premier League's best midfielders for years at the Foxes, during which time he scored the winning goal in an FA Cup final, there was a lot of uncertainty over his signing.

Prior to signing for Villa, he had been linked with a move to other top Premier League clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, and Newcastle. One Liverpool fan wasn't keen on signing Tielemans and tweeted, "Even for £25m, I'm not touching Tielemans. Doesn't offer much defensively and runs like he's stuck in treacle. Couldn't think of a less Klopp midfielder if I tried. Imagine him trying to press, he'd be on a ventilator after 20 minutes".

Difficult start to life in claret and blue

He also had a difficult start to life at Aston Villa and didn't start a Premier League game for the club until November, twelve games into the season. He had started all four of Villa's Europa Conference League games up to that point and was struggling to adapt to life at the club. Performances were not to his usual high standard and fans were starting to believe there was a reason he was signed on a free. There were concerns that the 26-year-old (at the time) was too overweight and his best days were behind him.

There were even suggestions that he had already fallen out with Unai Emery due to his poor form and lack of selection. However, Tielemans was quick to laugh that off:

"“I have seen suggestions that I have fallen out with the manager. I get sent all of that, I see all of that; I laugh because it’s nonsense. The manager has been really supportive since the start; we’ve got a really good professional relationship.""

- Your Tielemans (October 2023)

The quality shining through

Villa fans will remember the night that there was a turning point for Tielemans at the club. Aston Villa won 4-1 away at AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League and the Belgian scored the opening goal and was awarded Man of the Match. From that point, Tielemans started the majority of Villa's remaining league games and played a key part in Villa's fourth-place finish in the league, and their progression to the semi-finals of the European competition.

Up until February, Tielemans had largely been playing out of position on the right or left-hand side of the midfield. Or as a No.10. It was only when Boubacar Kamara suffered his season-ending injury against Manchester United that he moved into the middle of midfield alongside Luiz. Tielemans shone in the final third of Villa's season, despite the team's slight dip in form, and provided crucial assists against Arsenal and Brentford, as well as scoring against Liverpool at Villa Park in the penultimate game of the season.

From playing alongside Dougie, to replacing him

Douglas Luiz was a key player in the Villa side. Often the man to receive the ball with his back to goal and help the team progress up the pitch, he also took most set-pieces, corners and penalties. Four minutes into the new season Tielemans proved there was no need to panic as he whipped in a delicious inswinging corner to assist Amadou Onana's headed goal at West Ham.

Douglas Luiz has so far struggled to adapt to life at his new club, starting just one game but featuring in all five played so far. The stats (provided by fbref) suggest that Tielemans has slotted into Luiz's No.6 role in front of the Villa back-four extremely well. Tielemans's stats also show that he is producing similar numbers and performing even stronger than Luiz did last season, in my opinion.

Playing alongside fellow countryman and new signing Amadou Onana has no doubt helped Tielemans settle into his new role this season. The two of them play together regularly for their nation and they feed off each other superbly. There is a true understanding of what they require of each other in ensuring Villa's stability in front of the defence and in going forward, and Unai Emery will have a tough decision to make when Kamara returns from injury.

His Man of the Match display in Villa's crushing 3-0 victory over Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League's opening fixture showed just how well he is playing. Receiving the ball from deep with such security and distributing the ball with such ease was a delight to watch for the Villa fans. His numbers show just how good he was in both attack and defence and he has no doubt been one of the stand-out individuals in an excellent Aston Villa side so far this season.

UTV