Douglas Luiz - Confirmed confirmed

[PaulWinch again]

Plausible that his performances under Emery have earned him a new and improved deal that recognises his importance.

i'd assess after the triple header coming up - Spurs/Arsenal/Ci£y . (if indeed there is anew contract floating (which i doubt))
He's a good player but was only a few weeks ago he cost us a goal at Wolves .

He’s one of the best midfielders in the league. Blimey.

[Risso]

Tough crowd!

[Somniloquism]

Plausible that his performances under Emery have earned him a new and improved deal that recognises his importance.

i'd assess after the triple header coming up - Spurs/Arsenal/Ci£y . (if indeed there is anew contract floating (which i doubt))
He's a good player but was only a few weeks ago he cost us a goal at Wolves .

Offering him a new contact after he didn't continue his home goal scoring form seems to be pandering to mediocre play. We shouldn't be rewarding failure at all.

[paul_e]

He only had 108 touches and completed 87 of 96 attempted passes, including the assist for the opener, barely even noticed him.

[LeeB]

I was a bit angry with him yesterday when he broke away and it was about 4 on 2, not for the shite pass he chose to make but the fact he didn't just carry on and twat it in himself.

Lack of ambition, get rid.

[Risso]

I was a bit angry with him yesterday when he broke away and it was about 4 on 2, not for the shite pass he chose to make but the fact he didn't just carry on and twat it in himself.

Lack of ambition, get rid.

I was pissed off with him as well. Had £20 on 3-1 with him to get the first goal, and he let that sodding John McGinn score first instead!

[VillaTim]

I was a bit angry with him yesterday when he broke away and it was about 4 on 2, not for the shite pass he chose to make but the fact he didn't just carry on and twat it in himself.

Lack of ambition, get rid.

yeah that was a bad pass , big opportunity squandered there

[coreyfeldman]

I was a bit angry with him yesterday when he broke away and it was about 4 on 2, not for the shite pass he chose to make but the fact he didn't just carry on and twat it in himself.

Lack of ambition, get rid.

yeah that was a bad pass , big opportunity squandered there

U a troll or you just stupid?

[astonvilla82]

I was a bit angry with him yesterday when he broke away and it was about 4 on 2, not for the shite pass he chose to make but the fact he didn't just carry on and twat it in himself.

Lack of ambition, get rid.

yeah that was a bad pass , big opportunity squandered there

U a troll or you just stupid?

Fisherman casts his fishing line and catches a big fish?

[coreyfeldman]

I was a bit angry with him yesterday when he broke away and it was about 4 on 2, not for the shite pass he chose to make but the fact he didn't just carry on and twat it in himself.

Lack of ambition, get rid.

yeah that was a bad pass , big opportunity squandered there

U a troll or you just stupid?

Fisherman casts his fishing line and catches a big fish?

very average size this one

[SaddVillan]

From The Athletic

DOUGLAS LIUZ, FROM ONE FOOT OUT THE DOOR TO ASTON VILLA’S HEARTBEAT

Douglas Luiz, it was business as usual.

There he sat in the heart of Aston Villa’s midfield, building up the play, causing havoc from set pieces and breaking another individual record.

As Villa made it 12 home league wins in a row in the 3-1 win over Luton Town, up popped Douglas Luiz to assist the opener and, in turn, become the first Villa player to be directly involved in a goal across each of his last seven Premier League home appearances (a run stretching back to last season). Before that, he had beaten Dwight Yorke’s record by scoring in six home games on the bounce.

The latest achievement was on an occasion that marked his 150th Premier League appearance for Villa. He was the cover star on the matchday programme and was discussed at length by head coach Unai Emery, who said he was “proud of the improvement” leading up to the game.

By reaching the milestone, Douglas Luiz also became the first of the current crop to reach the 150-game mark and what makes that even more remarkable is how it was widely accepted he may never get anywhere near that number.

Not only did Villa reject four offers from Arsenal in August 2022, but they had also waited nervously for former club Manchester City to activate the buy-back clause in a deal that saw the Brazilian join for £15million ($18.2m by today’s rates) in July 2019. Villa even went as far as planning for life without him by signing Morgan Sanson for £14million from Marseille.

The next step was to invest further once City paid £30million to buy Douglas Luiz back, but to the surprise of the midfielder and those close to him at Villa, the move was never finalised.

City manager Pep Guardiola instead handed his reliable captain, Fernandinho, a contract extension for another 12 months that summer and decided that Douglas Luiz, the player he signed from Vasco da Gama in 2017 and sent on loan to Spanish side Girona, was no longer required.

That now looks like a missed opportunity for the treble winners who, like the rest of the Premier League, are watching Villa become a serious force. With five goals and an assist this season, Douglas Luiz is one of the top-performing midfielders in the division. At Villa, Douglas Luiz takes the most touches, makes the most passes and is also a leading creative force thanks to his successful passes into the opposition half (top at 278 this season) and most passes into the final third (86).

The 25-year-old has never spoken publicly about those two years when he was waiting for the City recall, but it’s clear it was always on his mind.

Villa were only able to sign Douglas Luiz in the first place because of the buy-back clause as City, who were previously unable to get a work permit for the former Brazil Under-20s captain, looked at alternative ways to control his future.

For a period, Douglas Luiz was left wondering what would happen next.

Missing out on a move to Arsenal hurt more than he let on during an interview with The Athletic last season, too. “A lot happened that day, but I stayed calm about everything,” he said earlier this year, keeping his cards close to his chest.

Douglas Luiz never downed tools and if anything, the chain of events that followed only helped him appreciate everything he now has at Villa, even if there was a degree of disappointment after the City and Arsenal setbacks.

Over the past 12 months under Emery, he has begun to shine and the brave move from owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens and former CEO Christian Purslow to reject multiple requests from Arsenal has now paid off.

After breaking Yorke’s record, Paul Merson, the former Villa midfielder, asked whether Douglas Luiz was the “most underrated player” in the Premier League.

No longer, though, is he flying under the radar as those who have watched his development at Villa now describe him as “world class” and a vital part of the high-flying side now chasing a Champions League dream.

It was the former sporting director, Jesus Garcia Pitarch, who initially met with Douglas Luiz, his father Edmilson, and the agent Carlos Leite as Villa won promotion to the Premier League in the summer of 2019.

Pitarch’s knowledge of the Spanish market led him to the midfielder, who showed plenty of promise and potential during his loan in La Liga at Girona, the club that forms a part of the City Football Group.

In Spain, Pitarch began discussing the project at Villa and put in the early groundwork to get the deal done.

Purslow, with the support of Sawiris and Edens, then got the deal over the line as Douglas Luiz became only the second Brazilian to sign for Villa, just weeks after the striker, Wesley, had moved from Club Bruges. How different the fortunes of each player have since turned out.

Yet it hasn’t been all plain sailing for Douglas Luiz, who struggled for large parts of his first two seasons under Dean Smith and then into his time with Steven Gerrard.

The question for too long was whether he was cut out to be a specialist No 6 or a more attacking No 8.

When Ollie Watkins was taken off penalties after missing spot kicks in the 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield in May and then during a pre-season friendly, Emery went searching for a replacement.

There was a clear gap and lack of experience that needed addressing. Douglas Luiz was chosen because of his accurate and consistent technique. Alongside MacPhee, he has worked on a routine where he runs slowly before winding up and striking the ball at speed.

Emery admits there’s still much more to come, saying: “Every player has an objective. For Douglas Luiz, it is to improve, to score goals.”

The general feeling is that the manager is over-demanding of Douglas Luiz. He often uses his go-to man as the catalyst to gee up the team, largely because he is the chief conductor. It’s not unusual to see the two sharing words during games and Douglas Luiz then setting the tone with clever movements that have been worked on long and hard on the training pitch.

Yet Emery, alongside the work with individual coach Rodri who has spent extended time with Douglas Luiz in the video analysis room, has shown considerable faith in him as a defensive midfielder from the start.

He’s the only midfield player who has started every Premier League game since Emery joined and the results are there to see, with Douglas Luiz at the heart of it all.

[AV84]

*thats* how we ended up with Sanson! I didn't know that.

[Baldy]

Douglas Luiz, the first name I look for on our team sheet and the last name I ever want to see on the BBC gossip page.

[Drummond]

*thats* how we ended up with Sanson! I didn't know that.

And why he never played.

[Rigadon]

Douglas Luiz, the first name I look for on our team sheet and the last name I ever want to see on the BBC gossip page.

On the latter, I wouldn't get your hopes up! Apparently Arsenal are keen, but are keeping it under the radar. 

Seriously, the 'stories' will only increase the more this form continues, and I think barring the odd disappointing result, this is the new normal.