Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz is reportedly looking to leave the Midlands club during the next summer transfer window.
According to a recent report from UOL (via Sport Witness) the midfielder has decided to not sign a new deal at Villa Park and is more interested in speaking to other clubs he may be able to join in the summer once the January transfer window opens.
Villa signed Luiz during the 2020 summer transfer window from Manchester City in a deal worth £15m.
Since then, the Brazilian has gone on to make 117 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring seven goals and supplying eight assists in the process.
The recent final day of the latest summer transfer window saw Villa reject three bids for Luiz from fellow Premier League side, Arsenal, the highest of which being worth £25m.
This showed just how highly the club values him and wants him to stay at Villa Park.
Now that this claim has emerged saying that the player has already decided he wants to leave the club as a free agent in the summer, this will surely be a blow for Villa and Steven Gerrard.
Taking into account how only three outfield players at the club have made more appearances under Gerrard than Luiz (33), this highlights just how significant he is to the manager and why it would be a big setback for him to see the former City figure potentially wave goodbye to Villa at the end of the season.
Then from the club’s point of view, it wouldn’t benefit them financially to lose the player on a free transfer next summer after having three opportunities to cash in on him during the previous window.
Moving forward, if Gerrard and Villa feel that they can still convince the player to pledge his future to the club and sign a new deal, then that should definitely be something they look to achieve as soon as possible.
If not, and Luiz has indeed made his mind up about leaving once the season is over, the club should look to find a suitable replacement for him.
