Deal Closed: Luiz Replacement From Luton Town To Be Signed By Aston Villa, “Unbelievable”
Even if Douglas Luiz does depart, Aston Villa will still want to bolster their team following a stellar year.
Despite witnessing their club lose to Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace 5-0 on the last day of the Premier League, Aston Villa supporters will be ecstatic with how this season has gone.
The Villans are in the Champions League thanks to Unai Emery’s leadership, having defeated Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle United, and Tottenham Hotspur to secure a spot at the top table for the upcoming season.
Although Douglas Luiz is often rumored to be heading away when a transfer window is in full force, Emery’s squad may not want everyone to stay put this summer despite their incredible success on the field. In fact, Arsenal has rekindled its interest in Villa’s star Brazilian midfield player.
The Villa Park authorities are well aware that a midfield void will need to be filled shortly, as the West Midlands club is moving closer to signing a replacement to lessen the pain of Luiz’s possible departure this summer.
Nearly acquiring a Premier League revelation for Aston Villa
The acquisition of Ross Barkley, a midfielder for Luton Town, appears to be almost finalized for Emery’s Champions League team. This weekend, Football Insider disclosed that a deal has been reached for Villa to sign the former Everton player, who has previously been a Villa Park player during his ups and downs.
After a disappointing time at Chelsea, Barkley rekindled his career with Luton Town this season. He scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists, and as the Hatters dropped back to the Championship, Barkley’s reputation grew, drawing interest from Eddie Howe’s Magpies to try and sign him.
But despite emerging as a revelation for Rob Edwards’ heroic team this season, it appears that the 30-year-old’s desire to go from Kenilworth Road to Villa Park was mostly influenced by the allure of Champions League play.
How Barkley compares to Luiz The ex-Toffees homegrown product has demonstrated his ability to play dirty and gritty for Luton in midfield this season in a basement battle, along with his knack for setting up and scoring goals when needed. Barkley’s rumored addition to the Villa ranks could therefore put a plaster on the large gap left by Luiz’s possible departure to the Emirates Stadium.
As can be observed by looking at the data above, Barkley outperforms Luiz in several defensive game characteristics even though the 30-year-old Kenilworth Road fan favorite plays mostly as an attacking midfielder rather than occasionally occupying a defensive midfield post.
While it’s true that Luton had a lot more defensive work to do in 2023–2024, Barkley—whose play was deemed “unbelievable” by Andros Townsend—also leads the way in a number of important attacking categories, including takeaways and progressive passing.
With Barkley joining the Villa team, the West Midlands team would therefore be a greater danger in the last third. When considering their comparable offensive statistics, Barkley’s former Chelsea player would also dwarf his South American rival.
