Talks ongoing: Lange could strike gold at Villa as Preece drops 9-word contract update - opinion

Aston Villa are still negotiating with Douglas Luiz over a contract extension…

That’s according to Birmingham Mail reporter Ashley Preece, who delivered a fresh update on the situation to supporters during a recent online Q&A.

“Dougie, again, conversations ongoing. [Steven] Gerrard wants him to stay,” he revealed.

The Brazilian midfielder has entered the final 12 months of his current £32.8k-per-week deal and has subsequently attracted interest from Serie A champions AC Milan (via GOAL).

It’s also thought that the Midlands outfit rejected a £30m bid from Premier League rivals Newcastle United in January but have since held ‘constructive’ talks over a new contract, as per John Percy of the Telegraph.

Luiz has been an important part of this Villa squad ever since joining from Manchester City in 2019 and the fact that Gerrard would like to keep him only highlights just how much the manager values his influence, even despite the arrival of Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer.

The 24-year-old featured in all but four of their Premier League outings last season, racking up 31 starts, as per Transfermarkt. He ended the campaign with five straight 90-minute outings, too.

In terms of consistency, Luiz was ever-reliable as he was Gerrard’s fourth-best performer of all players to start 25 or more matches in the top-flight; averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.77, which was better than the likes of ex-skipper Tyrone Mings, Danny Ings and Emi Martinez.

This form saw the Villa boss wax lyrical about his talents and subtly urged him to remain at the club.

“Douglas is a fantastic player, really talented and we rate him extremely high,” Gerrard explained (via Birmingham World). “We want to keep all of our best players around.

“We understand