Aston Villa want €46m for Arsenal transfer target Douglas Luiz
FT Desk
- 1 Sept 2022 17:32 BST
- 3 min read
Douglas Luiz is in high demand, with Arsenal looking to steal a march on Liverpool to acquire the Brazil international midfielder, but he won't come cheap.
Arsenal were in for Youri Tielemans, but Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is determined not to lose any more players having seen Wesley Fofana join Chelsea for a potential €93 million, the centre-back following the Nice-bound Kasper Schmeichel out of the club.
Leicester are rock bottom of the Premier League standings, and loath to let go of a player who had 10 goal contributions from central midfield for them last season, and 12 in all competitions.
The deadline day battle for Douglas Luiz is ON 🥊https://t.co/6JS3zgQUgn
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) September 1, 2022
Luiz has been targeted as a cheaper alternative, one who only has one year remaining on his deal at Villa Park, the club have already turned down a bid of around €23m, as first reported by Miguel Delaney.
"Aston Villa have set Arsenal a price of £40m for Douglas Luiz, a figure that is double what the Premier League leaders initially bid for the Brazilian on Thursday morning," he wrote in Independent.
'Villa want to drive up the price'
"There was considerable doubt over whether a deal gets done, although negotiations are continuing, amid some belief Villa are just looking to drive up the price."
Arsenal were already in the market for a midfielder despite the €37m arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, the Ukrainian left-back who can also play in the middle of the park.
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That need has become more acute since Mohamed Elneny picked up a "significant injury" in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Fulham on Saturday. Thomas Partey has also been nursing a thigh complaint, leaving Granit Xhaka as Arsenal's only fit deep-lying midfielder.
Luiz's compatriot Danilo of Palmeiras is an alternative, but the Brazilian club reportedly don't want to sell until the January transfer window with their domestic season still underway.
