'A huge club' - Douglas Luiz opens up on Aston Villa stance amid £85m Arsenal and Barcelona transfer interest

Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz has given an insight into his mindset amid speculation linked the midfielder with a move to Arsenal.

The Gunners are believed to be long-term admirers of the 12-times capped Brazil international after he became a key component of Villa’s midfielder following a £13m move from Manchester City during the summer of 2019. Although he featured under Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard, Luiz has become integral during Unai Emery’s 17-month reign at Villa Park and will be viewed as an essential part of his future plans.

Arsenal were reportedly unsuccessful with a series of offers for Luiz over recent transfer windows - but the current Premier League leaders are far from the only club showing an interest in the former Girona loan star. Reports in Spain have suggested Barcelona are also monitoring Luiz from afar - although the financial situation enveloping the Catalan giants could make it difficult for them to meet the reported £85m asking price placed upon the midfielder by Villa.

Despite the speculation surrounding his future, Luiz’s sole focus remains on the first leg of Villa’s Europa Conference League quarter-final tie with Lille on Thursday and their ongoing push for a place in next season’s Champions League. With just over 48 hours to go until their meeting with the Ligue 1 club, Luiz opened up on his happiness at Villa Park and insisted he is keen to ‘write a new chapter’ in the club’s history.

He told DAZN Portugal: “We’re all very happy with how this season is going, especially me, with all the history that the club is building and for my goals and assists, too. Personally, I’m very happy with it all and I think it’s just the start of a new chapter. As I always say, Aston Villa is a huge club and we’re prepared to write a new chapter.

Since Unai arrived there was a huge boost in the group’s confidence. I think he brought confidence to the team because we always had a good group of players. The squad is pretty much the same, only one or two players were bought in, so I think his work was important for the history that we’re writing.”