Arteta happy to sacrifice top Arsenal talent in discussions for elite Aston Villa star after major price tag revealed
Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz
Arsenal do not want to pay the £60million necessary to sign Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa in January and could instead use Emile Smith Rowe in a player-plus-cash deal, according to a report.
Luiz has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time now. Before the start of last season, the Gunners decided on him as their preferred target to bolster the midfield, and subsequently launched bids worth £20million, £23m and £25m. However, all three of those proposals were knocked back, with Villa viewing the central midfielder as a key part of their project.
Luiz has remained at Villa Park ever since, and he is currently enjoying a fantastic campaign under Unai Emery. So far, he has registered six goals and two assists in 19 appearances.
As per WhoScored, the Brazilian has been Villa’s joint-second best performing player this term, matching John McGinn’s average 7.16 rating. Only striker Ollie Watkins has a better season rating thus far (7.30).
While Emery will be delighted with how Luiz is playing, his top performances do mean that rival clubs are beginning to circle once again.
On Friday, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed that Luiz is Arsenal’s ‘favourite’ target as they look to replace the injured Thomas Partey.
‘Arsenal are gonna look again into the midfielders market in January after Thomas injury,’ he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. ‘Understand Douglas Luiz remains the fav option in Arsenal list since long time, Arsenal love him but ambitious Villa want to keep Douglas. Not easy.’
Later on Friday, TEAMtalk exclusively revealed that Villa had made a January deal for Arsenal difficult by slapping a £60m price tag on the 25-year-old’s head.
Arsenal have ‘secret weapon’ in Douglas Luiz chase
football.london have now provided an intriguing update on the situation. They suggest Arsenal have a ‘secret weapon’ in their pursuit of Luiz, and that comes in the form of Smith Rowe.
It is claimed that the Gunners will use Smith Rowe in their negotiations with Villa to try and drive that £60m fee down. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta appears happy to use Smith Rowe in a prospective deal for Luiz given the fact the Englishman is no longer a member of his starting lineup.
The report also notes that Villa have previously expressed an interest in signing Smith Rowe while Dean Smith was in charge, and the West Midlands side might revisit that interest.
It would be sad for Arsenal fans to see Smith Rowe leave, as he is a beloved member of the squad after coming through the famed Hale End academy.
But the 23-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at Arsenal after undergoing groin surgery last season. And his situation has been worsened by the arrivals of similar players such as Kai Havertz and Fabio Vieira.
It would be a tough decision for Arteta to make, but it would probably make sense for Smith Rowe to be included in a potential deal for Luiz. After all, the latter is now a top performer in the Premier League and would add even more quality to the Arsenal midfield. A midfield three of Luiz, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard would be hard for almost any team to overcome.
Plus, moving to Villa Park would give Smith Rowe a chance to reignite his career elsewhere. He looks like he needs a fresh start, and Emery has proven he is great at giving attackers all the confidence they need to thrive.
