Aston Villa could open talks to hand 25-year-old Arsenal target Douglas Luiz a new contract in the new year and secure his future.
According to Football Insider, Aston Villa are reportedly ready to hand Douglas Luiz a new contract in the new year to ward off rival interest. The 25-year-old Arsenal target has other suitors, too, with the Midlands club ready to repeat the trick they managed a year ago.
Unai Emery has made a massive difference at Aston Villa since taking over as the club’s manager from Steven Gerrard. The Basque man has unlocked the potential of this team, which finished seventh last season, to everyone’s surprise.
After a wobbly start to the current campaign, Aston Villa finished matchday 10 with 22 points on board and fifth in the standings. There are growing shoutouts for a top-four challenge, and Emery has the personnel to mount a run.
Hence, Emery and Aston Villa will look to strengthen their squad during January while keeping hold of their key players. One of those is Douglas Luiz, who has interest from Arsenal ahead of the next window. The Brazilian midfielder has become an integral part of this team, with the Spanish manager handing the keys of his side to the 25-year-old.
With Villa under no pressure to sell, they are uninterested in entertaining bids for Luiz in January. Moreover, they are keen to add new stars in midfield to complement the Brazilian, having failed with the Youri Tielemans experiment during the summer.
Knowing Villa’s stance and the player being content at the club, Arsenal are unlikely to make a January move but could approach over the summer. Aston Villa are keen to keep hold of Luiz for the long-term future and now are reportedly ready to hand him a new deal.
Back in the summer of 2022, Arsenal failed with multiple bids to sign the midfielder. Having managed to keep him, Aston Villa handed him a new contract last October and could repeat the trick in the new year. The club are keen to tie the Brazilian up for many years to come.
The new contract will ward off rival interest in the midfielder next summer. If the report comes out accurately, Villa are showing intent to challenge for bigger things and want Luiz to play a big part in this transition.
The lure of challenging trophies may attract Luiz to other clubs like Arsenal, but Villa are not far away from doing that themselves. Hence, they will likely hand him a new contract and end the speculation once and for all with their key midfielder.
