Arsenal face a potentially complicated transfer pursuit of Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz if they try to go after him this January, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for this week’s episode of the Debrief Podcast, which will be out in full later today, Romano said Luiz remains a player hugely appreciated by Mikel Arteta and Edu at Arsenal, though he also said that the situation reminded him a bit of their failed pursuit of Moises Caicedo last January.
The Gunners repeatedly tried to sign Caicedo while he was still at Brighton, but the Seagulls simply didn’t want to sell in the middle of the season, and he later ended up moving to Chelsea in the summer.
Similarly, Villa don’t want to let Luiz go, and they’re doing very well under Unai Emery, so it makes sense that they’d both feel confident of keeping the player, as well as even more determined not to disrupt this impressive squad.
? Arsenal's interest in Douglas Luiz remains "complicated" and similarly challenging to their pursuit of Moises Caicedo last January #AFC
[@FabrizioRomano via @caughtoffside] pic.twitter.com/2RBP6Lxqed
— Mark Brus Arsenal (@mbrus88) November 27, 2023
It will be intriguing to see if Arsenal can break Villa down and get the player they want, but if Romano says it’s similar to the Caicedo deal then that perhaps points towards disappointment for the north Londoners.
AFC had a busy summer bringing in big names like Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya, so it remains to be seen if they really have the kind of money left to pay whatever Villa would demand for such an important and in-form player.
Player swap is the only option with villa interested in both Kieran and Nelson.