Douglas Luiz - back home on loan

[Ian.]

I'm not convinced he fits into the way Gerrard wants to play across those three midfield positions. He's holding forte as a 6 until Bloody Marvelous/new signing is available. I see how Ramsey fits as a dynamic box to box player, and I see what McGinn gives. I also see where Sanson fits as competition for one of the 8's. The problem for Douglas is, I'm not sure he has the engine required. He's certainly a good player with potential to affect games in more advanced positions, but Gerrard demands a bit more I suspect. I don't think he'll fancy sitting on the bench. He has value. At some juncture we have to balance the books and sell some players. I think he's going this summer. I don't think he'll have the benefit of time to go from 'could be a decent no8' to actually becoming consistently so. Not this far into his Villa career.

This is my problem. I really like him but where would he play?

I’m convinced Gerrard rates him highly. I certainly do and I think he’s often one of our most consistent players now. He just doesn’t grab the limelight. He’s a constant menace when the other team have the ball and is very good with it.

I really hope we keep him.

[SoccerHQ]

£30m bid from a PL club (not Arsenal) rejected immediately apparently

Reckon Newcastle have tested the water as their midfield is pretty poor.

Depends what he wants to do. Given we've only started opening talks we must be pretty relaxed he wants to stay for another 3-4 years otherwise we're letting 30m + price significantly drop.

[Smirker]

£30m bid from a PL club (not Arsenal) rejected immediately apparently

Thats a good and fair offer imo.

[Toronto Villa]

He's a 23 year Brazilian international. £30m is peanuts. Wouldn't have bought you Alex Iwobi. Whoever made that offer can fuck off.

[Smirker]

He's a 23 year Brazilian international. £30m is peanuts. Wouldn't have bought you Alex Iwobi. Whoever made that offer can fuck off.

You can compare pretty much any bid to a disaster signing to make it look like a bad deal. Bought for half that and his contract is expiring next summer.

I think Doug is decent, and I'd be glad to keep him, but it is a fair offer imo.

[paul_e]

£30m bid from a PL club (not Arsenal) rejected immediately apparently

Reckon Newcastle have tested the water as their midfield is pretty poor.

Depends what he wants to do. Given we've only started opening talks we must be pretty relaxed he wants to stay for another 3-4 years otherwise we're letting 30m + price significantly drop.

He's going nowhere, we've been brilliant for him, we even signed him a new girlfriend, not many clubs would do that!

[brontebilly]

He's possibly the player with the most talent in the squad, to sell him for 30m with his best years ahead of him mid season would be crazy.

Might just be his agent angling for a juicy new contract too.

[Rigadon]

He's possibly the player with the most talent in the squad, to sell him for 30m with his best years ahead of him mid season would be crazy.

Might just be his agent angling for a juicy new contract too.

What are you basing that on (the most talent)?  I do rate him, but your description baffles me a bit!?

[supertom]

He was good against Everton. I'd like to see him get pushed forward if we bring in a DMF, and at least he can adequately cover against certain opposition. He's got to up his fitness probably, to get into the Gerrard way, because he can look a bit leggy in latter stages. And if he cuts out a bit of the lackadaisical play in his own half, that'll also go a long way. Still on the fence with him, but I guess we'll see what happens. If he does get a new deal, it obviously bodes well that Gerrard rates him and thinks he can get Douglas' stamina and running power up.
No point selling him unless it's silly money. 30 wouldn't be silly enough. If we don't tie him down, I suspect he'll go in the summer though.

[brontebilly]

He's possibly the player with the most talent in the squad, to sell him for 30m with his best years ahead of him mid season would be crazy.

Might just be his agent angling for a juicy new contract too.

What are you basing that on (the most talent)?  I do rate him, but your description baffles me a bit!?

I think he has the ability to be a top class midfielder. Good athlete, very good on ball, decent shot on him, set piece taker etc. At 23 he isn't going to have it all nailed every game.

Compare him to McGinn for example, McGinn can't pass a ball to save himself, no right foot, has a bit more heart and desire that Dougie could do with at times alright but ability wise Luiz has a lot more going for him.

[paul_e]

He was good against Everton. I'd like to see him get pushed forward if we bring in a DMF, and at least he can adequately cover against certain opposition. He's got to up his fitness probably, to get into the Gerrard way, because he can look a bit leggy in latter stages. And if he cuts out a bit of the lackadaisical play in his own half, that'll also go a long way. Still on the fence with him, but I guess we'll see what happens. If he does get a new deal, it obviously bodes well that Gerrard rates him and thinks he can get Douglas' stamina and running power up.
No point selling him unless it's silly money.

I think his best games this season were early after Gerrard arrived when he was playing with a little more freedom to get up the pitch because Marv was covering the DM role. If he can get a run of games in that position I suspect £40m will look cheap. I know some people have question marks over him but for me he's got the technical skills to be a top 4 player but needs to be pushed to really keep working at his game. Gerrard could be the making of him.

The real difficulty for me is, if we sign Bentancur or someone similar, who do we drop because McGinn, Luiz and Ramsey all deserve to be regular starters. File under 'good problems to have' I guess.

[Risso]

He was good against Everton. I'd like to see him get pushed forward if we bring in a DMF, and at least he can adequately cover against certain opposition. He's got to up his fitness probably, to get into the Gerrard way, because he can look a bit leggy in latter stages. And if he cuts out a bit of the lackadaisical play in his own half, that'll also go a long way. Still on the fence with him, but I guess we'll see what happens. If he does get a new deal, it obviously bodes well that Gerrard rates him and thinks he can get Douglas' stamina and running power up.
No point selling him unless it's silly money.

I think his best games this season were early after Gerrard arrived when he was playing with a little more freedom to get up the pitch because Marv was covering the DM role. If he can get a run of games in that position I suspect £40m will look cheap. I know some people have question marks over him but for me he's got the technical skills to be a top 4 player but needs to be pushed to really keep working at his game. Gerrard could be the making of him.

The real difficulty for me is, if we sign Bentancur or someone similar, who do we drop because McGinn, Luiz and Ramsey all deserve to be regular starters. File under 'good problems to have' I guess.

On current form if you had Bentencur, it would be Ramsey and one of either McGinn or Luiz. Neither have been in that good form that they’re a nailed on starter, so hopefully the increased competition for places and more freedom to attack would lift their game.

[paul_e]

He was good against Everton. I'd like to see him get pushed forward if we bring in a DMF, and at least he can adequately cover against certain opposition. He's got to up his fitness probably, to get into the Gerrard way, because he can look a bit leggy in latter stages. And if he cuts out a bit of the lackadaisical play in his own half, that'll also go a long way. Still on the fence with him, but I guess we'll see what happens. If he does get a new deal, it obviously bodes well that Gerrard rates him and thinks he can get Douglas' stamina and running power up.
No point selling him unless it's silly money.

I think his best games this season were early after Gerrard arrived when he was playing with a little more freedom to get up the pitch because Marv was covering the DM role. If he can get a run of games in that position I suspect £40m will look cheap. I know some people have question marks over him but for me he's got the technical skills to be a top 4 player but needs to be pushed to really keep working at his game. Gerrard could be the making of him.

The real difficulty for me is, if we sign Bentancur or someone similar, who do we drop because McGinn, Luiz and Ramsey all deserve to be regular starters. File under 'good problems to have' I guess.

On current form if you had Bentencur, it would be Ramsey and one of either McGinn or Luiz. Neither have been in that good form that they’re a nailed on starter, so hopefully the increased competition for places and more freedom to attack would lift their game.

but if they do it's a fantastic 'problem' for Gerrard to solve, especially when you still have Sanson, Nakamba and potentially Chuk to add in (although he seems to see chuk in the Coutinho/Buendia roles). I think we're close to having a pretty exciting amount of depth in the squad for the first time in years. I'd say there's now 16-17 players who could legitimately be in peoples 'best 11', I honestly can't remember the last time we had more than 1-2 players you'd think were unlucky to not start.

[Risso]

Agree Paul, a nice problem to have. It does though, also let us play “horses for courses” if we need to. So perhaps McGinn might be better when we want to be flat track bullies against the likes of Norwich and Burnley, but Luiz might be better if we want to keep possession against Man City etc.

[Clive W]

According to the DT a second bid of £32m plus £3m add ons has been received

Likely to be rejected as we are keen to keep him with a new contract

Still in the market for a DM