Two weeks ago, Sport Witness covered Calciomercato’s claims about Aston Villa’s willigness to sign Douglas Luiz permanently.
This was giving hope to Juventus about signing Ian Maatsen in a swap deal. They saw the Dutchman defender as a replacement for the struggling Andrea Cambiaso.
There was belief the two players have a similar valuation, with the Villans open to a swap. This was mainly because of their satisfaction about the Brazilian.
Today’s TuttoSport take a closer look and there is excitement in Turin about the player.
Douglas Luiz giving hope to Juventus
Douglas Luiz
Douglas Luiz
The newspaper note how the midfielder has picked up two Man of the Match awards in the last five games for Aston Villa. He has started all of those matches and now, there is a big possibility of them signing the player permanently.
This is coming as a positive for Juve, who haven’t particularly had a pleasant few days. They have lost to Inter Milan, Como and Galatasaray, with negativity swirling around the club. There are the usual concerns over finances but Douglas Luiz’s transfer will go a long way to helping them out.
Credit is laid on the feet of Aston Villa manager Unai Emery for bringing the most out of the midfielder.
€28.5m package from Aston Villa
The report goes on to make the conditions of the deal clear.
Aston Villa have the option to buy the 27-year-old for €25m and they are increasingly convinced about exercising it. Juve are also hoping that Douglas Luiz then performs well next season onwards, as it will hand them a bonus of €3.5m.
All of that will be a big boost for the club’s ‘stretched coffers’, especially since the Brazilian never made a mark in Turin.
Now, he has also put injury troubles behind him, and his fitness will likely play a key role in whether Aston Villa actually exercise their option or not.