Liverpool interested in ‘fantastic’ Aston Villa star who has ‘massively improved’ under Unai Emery

Liverpool are being linked with a move for a key Aston Villa star ahead of the deadline.

We are now just says away from the September 1 transfer deadline, and clubs up and down the Premier League still have holes to fill. Liverpool are one of those clubs, still needing another midfielder after losing Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and Fabinho over the last couple of months.

Despite that, the Reds have started well, winning two of their first three games and drawing the other.

But they will still look to snap up a midfielder, and it seems they could make a move for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, according to transfer insider Ben Jacobs. Jacobs told TeamTalk: “Yeah, Douglas Luiz is a name that has been discussed internally by Liverpool. I’m not aware of any movement at this point. I think that it’s crystal clear that Liverpool wants to add between now and the end of the window if the right name becomes available.”

Luiz has improved significantly since Unai Emery’s arrival, and he is said to be valued at around £60million by Villa. Speaking about the Brazilian’s development under Emery, Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright said back in May: “[Unai Emery has done] An unbelievable job and you can see the improvement in the players.

“I think Douglas Luiz is a very good example of someone who’s massively improved, he’s been fantastic. He’s a good player as it is but his numbers since he’s been under Unai Emery has been fantastic.

“He got his goal, that’s what he’s added to his game, and he’s proved to be very, very valuable to Villa because before Unai got there it wasn’t really happening. Look at his numbers now under Unai, he’s gone to another level.”

Villa won’t want to lose Luiz, especially not to a rival and especially not this late in the transfer window, and they are likely to make it difficult for Liverpool, if ineed Jurgen Klopp are interest. Villa make the trip to Anfield on Sunday, two days after the window closes.