After his £42 million move to Juventus from Aston Villa, industrious Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz has sadly failed to impress. The former Girona man has made only 13 league appearances in Serie A, failing to set the league alight and playing only 430 minutes.
Now, in the wake of what many would describe as a failed transfer, there is potential for Luiz to make a return to the Premier League within a year of departing. After an ACL injury ruled out Ballon d'Or winner Rodri for the rest of the season, Manchester City are now looking for options to replace him before the end of the January transfer window.
Luiz is one of the players who has been touted for a potential switch to the Cityzens, with his tough tackling and sedulous work rate aligning perfectly with Pep Guardiola's outline for a holding midfielder.
Having only featured for 15 minutes in each of Juventus' last three Serie A matches, including their first defeat of the season against Napoli this weekend, it seems set that the 26-year-old will seek a move away from the Allianz Stadium.
Luiz will not want to waste the prime years of his career, and, having already proven himself a capable and reliable midfielder, multiple Premier League clubs are now queueing up to bring him back to England.
Current favourites
Man City – 4/5
It is fair to say that, since the injury to midfield stalwart Rodri, Manchester City have struggled in the Premier League this season. Back-to-back victories against Ipswich and Chelsea, as well as a resurgence in the form of mercurial talent Phil Foden, have helped somewhat to rescue the Cityzens' season, subsequently placing them back in the top four.
However, regardless of recent results, an area in which Guardiola's side have struggled all season has been defence. Man City have managed just five clean sheets in the league, three of which came against teams in the relegation zone.
Having registered a tackle success rate of 65.5% in his final season with Aston Villa, a statistic which put him above 75% of the division's midfielders, one can see just how useful the Brazilian could be to plaster over the cracks in the City backline.
With nine more goals conceded than both Liverpool and Arsenal, this is certainly a pain point that Guardiola needs to address sooner rather than later if his side want any chance of making up some of their lost ground.
At 4/5, City are the current favourites to sign Luiz, having made it clear in the media that he is a player that the club are closely monitoring.
Man United – 5/4
However, hot on their rivals heels, Manchester United are another club allegedly in the running to sign the Brazilian midfielder. Ruben Amorim has made his intentions clear this season, stating publicly that a plethora of his players are not up to the standard and will need to be moved on.
A midfield populated by players such as Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo has not been able to bear fruit, and with rumours circulating that the latter of those three could be on his way to Chelsea, there may be a potential opening for Luiz to fill.
Dynamism is a trait that United have often lacked in the middle of the park this season, and thus it is important that they bring in a reinforcement to address that. With the club languishing in 14th place and with only seven wins from 22 games, any form of change has a good chance of being positive.
At 5/4, United could provide decent value for punters, but the Etihad currently seems a more viable destination, as City are still playing Champions League football.
Nottingham Forest – 14/1
As reflected by their odds of 14/1, surprise choice Nottingham Forest does not seem a particularly realistic choice for Douglas Luiz, regardless of how much fans may be willing the club to make a bid for the player.
Holding midfielders Nicolas Dominguez, Elliot Anderson and Ryan Yates have done an excellent job, seeing Forest into third place in the table and only nine points off leaders Liverpool.
Although he would be a fantastic acquisition, we cannot see Luiz moving to Forest before they have even secured a Champions League spot.
Lifelong Ipswich Town supporter who recently graduated from Durham University in French and German. Have developed a passion for European football based on my links abroad and am an avid supporter of Werder Bremen and Auxerre. Joined the MFT team in October 2024 and looking to take my first steps into the world of football journalism.
