With news that Arsenal and Aston Villa are in talks to sign midfielder Douglas Luiz, some North London fans have revealed old comments from Pep Guardiola confirming how much he appreciates the Brazilian player.
Early reports emerged on Wednesday (August 31) of Luiz’s possible departure on deadline day, with the 24-year-old reportedly refusing to extend his current contract, which expires next summer.
Uncertainty surrounding Luiz’s future at Villa has been heightened by coach Steven Gerrard, who has raised the prospect of the former Manchester City player leaving the club after his side’s loss to Arsenal. Luiz was signed to Man City for two seasons but did not play a second for the Premier League champions due to work permit issues.
However, Guardiola’s attempts at the time to convince the British Home Office of Luiz’s quality spread again on the Internet, after Arsenal fans revealed his statements from there, several years ago.
When word reached Pep Guardiola in 2018 that work permit issues prevented Douglas Luiz from playing for Manchester City, he sent a video to the Home Office explaining how important Luiz would be at his side in the coming months and years. [@TheAthleticUK via @City_Xtra] pic.twitter.com/85JqfFIAnA
– afcstuff (afcstuff) September 1, 2022
“When Pep Guardiola learned in 2018 that work permit issues were preventing Douglas Luiz from playing for Manchester City, he sent a video to the Home Office explaining how important Luiz would be to his team in the coming months and years,” The Athletic wrote.
Part of the problem City had when they signed him in 2017 was that he came straight from Vasco da Gama in Brazil, and they lacked significant international experience. That changed in 2019 after his debut in Brazil, which sealed the long-awaited work permit that was eventually granted by the UK government. But a couple of years ago, the story was completely different, hence the unorthodox intervention of his manager.
For many Arsenal fans, this information is more than enough to spark excitement about his potential signing. Luiz has starred with Villa since joining the club for around £15m in 2019.
He scored seven goals in 119 Premier League games, including his daring attempt on Wednesday night at the Emirates – which came straight from a corner kick.
Interestingly, Luiz’s celebration, which took place in front of the Aston Villa fans, was rather modest.
It looks like Arsenal will have to review their initial bid of £20m and beyond if they want to pull him out of Villa Park today, but his days in the West Midlands are certainly numbered as Arsenal are far from being the only ones. Interested team.
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