Douglas Luiz - coming back?

[Olneythelonely]

You have to assume this interview was weeks ago. Not timed particularly well

[chrisw1]

When Doug signed a new contract, we don't know what promises were made. He could have left for a lot less than £60m.

Emery is still making the squad his own. Apart from Tielemans that centre mid position was very much what he inherited. I imagine in an ideal world, he would have kept Doug but he must have weighed things up and decided that this was the right thing to do.

Over the years, there's been lots of instances of clubs selling one very good player and that club being able to make the sum of the parts stronger than that individual part. Hopefully that happens here.

Its been a long road - but last season bailey was no downgrade on Grealish - plus Emi b. & whatever we got for ings.

A big thing is what will Mings, Beundia, Ramsey and Kamara be like on return.  If they get to anywhere near there best that is like 4 x 40m signings

I love Leon as much as the next man, more probably.  He had a great season, but to say he's no downgrade on Grealish is just silly.

[LeeB]

His level is miles higher than Grealish right now, it's not silly at all.

[Dogtanian]

You have to assume this interview was weeks ago. Not timed particularly well

Or timed very well if you want to publish it at the moment when load of people are looking for Doug news!

[chrisw1]

His level is miles higher than Grealish right now, it's not silly at all.

Leon last season wasn't better than Grealish in his last 3 seasons for us.  So yes, it's a downgrade.

[LeeB]

His level is miles higher than Grealish right now, it's not silly at all.

Leon last season wasn't better than Grealish in his last 3 seasons for us.  So yes, it's a downgrade.

I disagree, Bailey was my player of the season in a team that was far more successful than any Grealish played in, and he played a lot more too.

[Olof's Beard]

Our double player of the year in 2023, best and most consistent player over the first two thirds of last season, penalty taker and clearly an influence in the dressing room. I don't see any positives with this, he leaves a massive hole.

Everyone talks about how he tailed off after January but it was only really the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season when his form really suffered. And he was knackered.

He has been a mainstay of the team for five years, stepped up after lockdown when we needed to stay up and improved year on year after that. He always seems to genuinely love playing for us too. It's rubbish that his leaving and even more so if it is mostly driven by crappy financial rules which do nothing but protect the twatty clubs who already spent their Dosh to grow their revenue sources.

[Dante Lavelli]

You have to assume this interview was weeks ago. Not timed particularly well

Not sure, wasn’t his call up only a week or ago?

[DrGonzo]

Sad to see him leave if this is happening, but we must look at the bigger picture. Cash and players, and if Duran goes for 40m as is being suggested we have a good platform to go on and really improve our squad as a whole off of the back of these deals.  Hoping Alisha Lehmann isn't leaving too...

[Risso]

Our double player of the year in 2023, best and most consistent player over the first two thirds of last season, penalty taker and clearly an influence in the dressing room. I don't see any positives with this, he leaves a massive hole.

Everyone talks about how he tailed off after January but it was only really the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season when his form really suffered. And he was knackered.

He has been a mainstay of the team for five years, stepped up after lockdown when we needed to stay up and improved year on year after that. He always seems to genuinely love playing for us too. It's rubbish that his leaving and even more so if it is mostly driven by crappy financial rules which do nothing but protect the twatty clubs who already spent their Dosh to grow their revenue sources.

I'm a bit sad he's going, but I also think we've had our money's worth to be honest. He's been a great player for us, especially the first half of last season. And I'm not just saying this because he's on his way, but he's also capable of going missing quite often. After Christmas his form fell to pieces, and he mostly wasn't very good to be honest. Of course that was partly down to Kamara being out, but a truly great player shouldn't be so dependent on another player being in the team.

I'd have liked to see him in the CHampions League with us, but it's not to be, and of the star players we have I think he's in a position where we'll miss him the least out of him, Watkins and Martinez. Money plus two players Emery and Monchi must think will improve us seems a good deal.

[chrisw1]

I agree his position is one where we have more cover than for Watkins or Martinez, so yes it makes sense if it HAD to be one of those three.  Tielemans and Barkley (assuming he comes) can step directly into that role, so yes arguably we can cover him.  I'm not sure we can cover his ability to pick up the emergency DM role though, so we will miss that versatility.

If you want to join the elite you need elite players and I still think he's one of the very few we have in the squad.  I'm just a bit sick of selling our best players, particularly when we've just qualified for the Champions League.  It's going to take a while to get over this.

[Paul.S]

If he’s off then it’ll be a loss for us. He’s been fantastic at this club and has improved season after season, especially under Emery.
He can do almost everything and over the last 2 seasons has added a nasty streak to his game, which I like from a midfielder.
I still hope he doesn’t go but if he does then I’d like to thank him for everything he’s done for us.

[Dave]

Our double player of the year in 2023, best and most consistent player over the first two thirds of last season, penalty taker and clearly an influence in the dressing room. I don't see any positives with this, he leaves a massive hole.

Everyone talks about how he tailed off after January but it was only really the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season when his form really suffered. And he was knackered.

He has been a mainstay of the team for five years, stepped up after lockdown when we needed to stay up and improved year on year after that. He always seems to genuinely love playing for us too. It's rubbish that his leaving and even more so if it is mostly driven by crappy financial rules which do nothing but protect the twatty clubs who already spent their Dosh to grow their revenue sources.

I'm a bit sad he's going, but I also think we've had our money's worth to be honest. He's been a great player for us, especially the first half of last season. And I'm not just saying this because he's on his way, but he's also capable of going missing quite often. After Christmas his form fell to pieces, and he mostly wasn't very good to be honest. Of course that was partly down to Kamara being out, but a truly great player shouldn't be so dependent on another player being in the team.

I'd have liked to see him in the CHampions League with us, but it's not to be, and of the star players we have I think he's in a position where we'll miss him the least out of him, Watkins and Martinez. Money plus two players Emery and Monchi must think will improve us seems a good deal.

Same. He's been great for us and we've been great for him. If he feels that he'd like to try something new, then fair enough. If we weren't comfortable with that I'm pretty sure we'd just tell him that we weren't selling (hypothetical release clauses notwithstanding). Seems like all sides are comfortable with where things have landed and he'll be leaving with gratitude and best wishes.

It also feels like we're in the sort of position where losing a great player isn't the death-knell that it has been for the last fifteen years (Grealish / Benteke / Milner etc) but something that we can work with and build from.

[ASHTONVILLA]

It's never great when you lose one of your best players. However how badly it affects us very much depends on the overall recruitment, not just who the direct replacement is, or what players come in this deal.

When Grealish went, he was head and shoulders our most important player, and the team really struggled to replace him. When Platt went Atkinson built a much better team with the money that came in.

Luiz is a good player, but he is by no means our best player, or a player we will struggle to replace. Watkins, Torres, Kamara, and Martinez are all more important to our form (we miss them more when injured or suspended) and would be harder to replace. Of the saleable assets Luiz or Ramsey are the ones we were always most likely to go if we needed to raise money.

As for the purported deal, I don't think it is as terrible as some think. McKennie is a good player, an established International that has been a regular for Juventus. He is a different sort of player to Luiz so can't be seen as a direct replacement. More competition for McGinn. Iling Junior is likely replacing either Digne or Moreno (more likely Moreno if the recent reports are correct about him wanting out). Again he has had significant game time for Juventus and is not a bad player.

The two players coming in are probably worth somewhere between 40 and 50 million between them and will pick up less wages combined than we were paying Doug Add the 20 million fee and it is as good a deal as we could get from a Serie A team, as even Juventus or Milan can't splash 70 odd million on a player these days.

If Moreno goes for a profit then the deal looks even more canny for FFP. Ditto if Barkely comes in for 5m.

Duran out for 40m also makes sense if that allows us to replace Kamara, and we find another back up for Ollie (we already have Archer back in the fold too). Cash going I can live live as well, I think we can find better.

Our biggest issues last season were running out of steam due to injuries and excessive game time for key players. We have plenty of players coming back, and if can bring in strong energetic players to enlarge the squad then it should serve us well in the new season.

[pauliewalnuts]

I suspect this is an element of us ducking and diving to work within PSR constraints, so although I'd rather keep him, I am fine with it.

It is WAY better that he go to Italy than stay in the Premier League, that'd be much tougher to take, seeing him at Arsenal or some other hideous Tarquinbowl.