According to reports, Aston Villa have a ‘verbal agreement’ to re-sign midfielder Douglas Luiz, who is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest.
Unai Emery‘s side were always likely to be active in this transfer window as they had a really frustrating summer due to potential sales and their PSR issues impacting their activity.
Aston Villa could also do with strengthening their squad as they have been hit by injuries, while they are in a good position to challenge for the Premier League and/or Europa League during the run-in.
So far this window, the Villans have made two signings, landing teenage forwards Brian Madjo and Alysson for around £20m combined.
And in recent weeks, Aston Villa have turned their attention to signing a new centre-midfielder and striker.
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Villa need a new midfielder to fill the void left by Boubakar Kamara, who is due to miss the remainder of this season with a knee injury, while they are in the market for a striker to replace Donyell Malen.
The Premier League outfit have been linked with several potential midfield signings, including Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but they now look set to re-sign Luiz.
The 27-year-old grabbed nine goals and five assists for Aston Villa in the Premier League during the 2023/24 season, with his form in that season earning him a move to Juventus.
Villa decided to cash in on Luiz to balance the books, but he failed to live up to expectations at Juventus and has also struggled for game time at Forest this season.
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Now, Luiz is going to have another spell at Aston Villa as Fabrizio Romano has revealed that he has a ‘verbal agreement’ for this move.
Romano said on X: ‘Douglas Luiz to Aston Villa, here we go! The Brazilian midfielder is back at the club after talks revealed last week.
‘Verbal agreement with Juventus over paid loan deal with buy option clause.
‘Nottingham Forest send Luiz back to Juve and new loan to #AVFC.’
Regarding their search for a new striker, a report from Football Insider claims Villa have ‘made a decision’ regarding Jean-Philippe Mateta, with it claimed that they are ‘set to end their interest in the Crystal Palace striker as they grow ever closer to signing Tammy Abraham’.
The report claims: ‘Unai Emery’s side are now set to postpone their pursuit of the 28-year-old after Besiktas confirmed that they triggered their clause to sign Abraham from Roma permanently on Monday.
‘Aston Villa have been chasing Abraham for several weeks, and sources say that his arrival at Villa Park is now all but confirmed, with the main issue behind the deal now overcome. That will likely see the Midlands outfit step back from any potential move for Mateta, as funds are tight and their striker addition is already secured.’
