Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of signing Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz.
Despite the signing of both Declan Rice and Kai Havertz in the summer to beef up their midfield department, Mikel Arteta still wants to add another player to the squad.
This stems from the fact that Thomas Partey has spent the majority of the season watching on from the sidelines as his injuries grow more common.
This isn’t helped by the absence of both Emile Smith Rowe and now Fabio Vieira to injury as the Gunners try to cope with a busy December period.
Arteta reportedly wants to add another ‘6’ to his squad in January and views Luiz as the perfect man for the job.
Arsenal were heavily linked with the Brazilian before and like a lot of their targets, they haven’t forgotten about him.
But the midfielder has commented on the transfer rumours surrounding him and has made it clear that he is happy at Aston Villa.
“I am very happy to hear the stories, but I am here at Aston Villa,” he told Sky Sports.
“My focus is totally here. I don’t spend a lot of time looking at the stories. I see them, but I don’t focus on that and I’m not looking at it every day. My head is here at Aston Villa”.
Arsenal will get a first-hand glimpse of the Brazilian during their clash at Villa Park this weekend as long as the midfielder doesn’t pick up another yellow card against Manchester City.