Wanted by title winners: £21.6m Villa star could now try to 'force' his way out

Douglas Luiz could try to ‘force’ his way out of Aston Villa amid interest from AC Milan, according to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness). 

Having lost Franck Kessie to Barcelona at the end of his contract, Milan are pushing for a new midfielder.

Their top target is Lille’s Renato Sanches, but he’s now finalising a move to Paris Saint-Germain. And the Serie A champions have identified Villa midfielder Luiz as an alternative.

Significantly, he’s now into the final 12 months of his contract with the Midlands outfit, who know this may be their last opportunity to cash in.

Aston Villa have apparently placed a €25million (£21.6million) price tag on Luiz.

But Milan hope that Luiz will ‘force the issue’ and compel Villa to accept a lower fee.

It would arguably be a blow for Villa to lose Luiz ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Last term, only two of Steven Gerrard’s players (with ten or more starts) recorded a better points-per-match average than Luiz’s 1.24 (Emiliano Martinez and Ashley Young).

Villa’s goal difference with Luiz on the pitch was +0.17 per 90 minutes, which is again the third-best record (behind Philippe Coutinho and Jacob Ramsey).

This suggests he’s an important player, whose absence may be felt.

Luiz is, after all, a nine-times capped Brazil international who’s been dubbed a ‘bow and arrow‘ by manager Tite.

Villa may have signed Boubacar Kamara, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll make the same impact.

Source