[According](https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Serie-A/Juventus/04-07-2026/juve-spalletti-vuole-rilanciare-douglas-luiz-ecco-come.shtml?refresh_ce) to **La Gazzetta dello Sport**, Luciano Spalletti wants to give Douglas Luiz a fresh start at Juventus by deploying him as a regista, a deep-lying playmaker role similar to how Stanislav Lobotka operated in his Napoli side. The manager wants to test the Brazilian midfielder in this position before the pre-season friendlies begin.
This tactical experiment is further influenced by Juventus’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, as a successful transition for Douglas Luiz would allow the club to save money and avoid spending heavily on another midfield signing.
### Why Douglas Luiz can still add value under Spalletti
His loan stint back at Aston Villa showed clear glimpses of his high technical baseline and ball retention. Under a manager like Spalletti, who excels at maximizing deep-lying creators, Douglas Luiz can provide the exact press-resistance and distribution Juventus needs from a structured midfield anchor, solving an expensive problem internally.