Aston Villa open to signing £42m ace this month

Aston Villa find themselves eighth in the Premier League after 22 games played, sitting on 36 points, winning ten times, drawing six and losing six.

The Villans have had some very hot and cold moments this season, beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but also having some heavy losses to the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle.

Unai Emery‘s side have averaged 49.8% possession per game so far this season, compared to last term when they averaged 52.8% possession per game, which suggests their ability to control the game has been lacking slightly.

Summer signing, Amadou Onana has been struggling with a few injury issues in central midfield, as well as Boubacar Kamara having some injury problems at the start of this campaign. This could mean there is space for another midfielder to enter the fray, and perhaps help solve some control issues in the Villa midfield.

Aston Villa aiming to sign former player

According to reports from talkSPORT, Aston Villa are one of the clubs open to offering Juventus midfielder, Douglas Luiz, a return to the Premier League.

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Manchester City are another club interested in Luiz, with both interested parties having had the Brazilian on their books already in the past.

The 26-year-old made his move from Villa to Juventus in the summer, joining the Italian giants for a fee of around £42.35m.

Luiz has made 17 appearances this season for Juventus under Thiago Motta, has yet to contribute any G/A to the side, but has contributed to nine clean sheets in his 550 minutes played.

Why Luiz would be Villa’s best piece of business this January

Donyell Malen is a signing Aston Villa have already made this window, looking to strengthen their attacking options with a versatile forward who can play all across the front line.

The 26-year-old signed from Dortmund for a fee of around £21m, which could rise to £27.7m with performance-related add-ons.

However, with the likes of Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran already sharing the goals nicely, that midfield area to add more control during games could be seen as more important for Emery, therefore leading to a midfield acquisition such as Luiz.

When analysing Luiz’s 2023/24 season for Aston Villa with Kamara’s 2024/25 season so far, Luiz comes out on top in many passing metrics, which can again begin to tell the story of their slight demise in controlling games.

Whilst Kamara is more inclined to pass forwards after winning possession, Luiz averaged more sideways and backward passing, which could be better to balance alongside Tielemans, who often looks to break the lines with forward passes.

Luiz was labelled one of the most “underrated” players in the Premier League last season by Paul Merson, playing a huge part in their success and qualification for the Champions League. He brings good duel-winning ability, whilst being technical and composed on the ball under pressure.

The return of the Brazilian midfielder could well bring the balance needed -especially in the absence of Onana – alongside Tielemans, to bring more control in games, without losing that duel-winning ability in central areas.

Villa already score plenty of goals and while Malen could make a strong impact, Luiz has already proven the difference he makes to Emery’s side. He’d be a great addition.

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