‘I think’: Journalist now expects Arsenal to sign £40m player who Zinchenko has been watching closely
Journalist Simon Phillips has told Give Me Sport that he believes that Douglas Luiz will join Arsenal should he leave Aston Villa on a free transfer next summer.
Luiz seemed to come close to moving to the Emirates on the final day of the most recent window. Reports claimed that the Gunners made a bid for the Brazilian.
Villa meanwhile, set an asking price of £40 million as the deadline loomed. The problem for Mikel Arteta’s side was that Luiz’s contract with the Villans expires at the end of the current campaign.
The question mark over his future therefore, remains. And Villa will be left with a tricky decision in January should Luiz decide that he is not signing a new deal with them.
Certainly, Phillips believes that if Luiz is able to leave on a free transfer, a move to the Emirates is likely to be on the cards.
“The situation there if he does become a free agent, Chelsea will probably have a look at it,” he told Give Me Sport.
“But I think he’ll end up joining Arsenal.”
You can certainly understand why Arsenal backed away from meeting Villa’s asking price on the final day of the summer.
Luiz is an ‘unbelievable‘ talent with the potential to improve further. However, he is not yet the finished article. And with that, Arsenal probably could not justify paying £40 million for a player available on a free in a year.
Landing him for nothing however, would have the potential to be an absolute masterstroke from the Gunners.
He has shown the kind of quality he possesses, against Mikel Arteta’s men no less. Of course, Luiz scored directly from a corner in Arsenal’s recent win over Aston Villa. Oleksandr Zinchenko subsequently admitted that he asked Gabriel Jesus about the links with his countryman.
Perhaps it may not be too long before Luiz is trying similar from set-pieces for the Gunners themselves.
