Fabrizio Romano: Arsenal in “negotiations” to sign £20m star player, time to forget Tielemans – opinion
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who delivered a fresh update on their pursuit of the Aston Villa midfielder to Twitter.
“Arsenal are prepared to reach an agreement with Douglas Luiz on personal terms. Douglas keen on the move, work in progress,” he said.
“Negotiations still ongoing between the clubs, not an easy one.”
It comes just hours after the Brazil international scored at the Emirates Stadium in the Gunners’ 2-1 victory over the Midlands outfit last night. He could command a fee in the region of £20m.
Time to forget Tielemans
Much of the summer window has seen the north London giants linked with a move for Leicester City star Youri Tielemans, who is out of contract next summer – just like Luiz.
Some reports even suggested that personal terms were agreed with the Belgian dynamo, who manager Mikel Arteta was thought to be rather keen on signing ahead of the new campaign.
However, Arsenal’s hunt for midfield reinforcements has taken them to a different Midlands side with Luiz looking more and more likely to be the man.
The need for further depth in the engine room has heightened in recent weeks after the Spanish head coach lost both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny to injuries, leaving him rather light on options.
Granit Xhaka and the inexperienced Albert Sambi Lokonga started against Villa last night, though there were no viable replacements on the bench.
Once on the books of Manchester City, Arteta’s late interest in Luiz should come as little surprise and he would arrive with plenty of Premier League experience as he has often stood out at Villa Park.
The midfielder, who manager Steven Gerrard lauded as a “top talent” and a “really wonderful footballer”, was Villa’s fourth-best performer last campaign – ahead of players like skipper John McGinn and the talismanic Danny Ings.
With less than 12 hours left in the window, it’s on technical director Edu Gaspar and his recruitment staff to get this one over the line, in a move that would surely delight Arteta, given the midfield crisis at the Emirates Stadium right now.
