Arsenal make late move for Douglas Luiz

Arsenal are working towards acquiring the services of Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, according to The Sun’s Jack Rosser.

Per the report, Mikel Arteta’s men are prepared to bid up to £25million for Luiz, who has been linked with a move away from his current employers having fallen down the pecking order since the arrival of Boubacar Kamara.

Following injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny, the Gunners are currently down to bare bones in midfield and were forced to field Albert Sambi Lokonga alongside Granit Xhaka in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa yesterday.

Douglas Luiz came off the bench to score for Villa in the aforementioned game and the Brazilian could now soon be plying his trade in North London as Arsenal target a late swoop before the end of the transfer window.

With just nine months left on Luiz’s current deal at Villa Park, Steven Gerrard’s men may be tempted to cash in on the 24-year-old to avoid losing him for free next summer.

Speaking in the aftermath of his side’s defeat to Arsenal yesterday, Gerrard hinted that while he is keen to keep hold of Luiz, the final decision regarding the midfielder’s future was not in his hands.

“I would like to keep him…I think he is in a fantastic player and I have made that abundantly clear,” the Villa head coach was quoted saying by Metro.

“We are not in a position where we need to lose our top players but at the same time Douglas has a year to go.

“It is one of those really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, not necessarily what is best for me.”

Off the back of five victories from as many league games so far, Arsenal now set out to complete one last piece of summer business to help boost their quest for an impressive Premier League campaign.