It was a major talking point when Aston Villa decided to sell Douglas Luiz to Juventus this summer.
If it wasn’t for Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and Financial Fair Play (FFP), then there is no chance Aston Villa sell the player.
Ollie Watkins deservedly won Aston Villa’s Player of the Season for the previous campaign after he scored 19 Premier League goals and supplied 13 assists.
But, the feeling was that Luiz is Villa’s best overall player if you go by what he has produced for the club since joining from Manchester City in 2019.
The 26-year-old bloomed from a player who barely spoke a word of English to being able to communicate fluently in that language, grow into one of the best midfielders in the league and then become a Brazil international.
That’s why one of Italy’s biggest clubs came knocking for his services, but life hasn’t started as he would have liked, even though it’s still early days.
Luiz has only played 55 minutes for Juventus and now he has been dealt his first major blow since moving to Turin.
The dead-ball specialist has been left out of Brazil’s latest squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay – Brazil beat Ecuador 1-0 on Saturday.
Wolves’ new signing Andre started in midfield, alongside Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, with Lucas Paqueta ahead of them, as posted by Brazil’s Instagram account.
Douglas Luiz left out of Brazil’s squad
Douglas Luiz to face Aston Villa
It’s funny how football scripts are written sometimes, but Luiz’s Juventus will face Aston Villa in the Champions League this season.
When he first joined the club under the stewardship of Dean Smith, the task was the push the club up the table and then guide them into Europe’s elite competition.
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Luiz will be playing Champions League football at Villa Park, it’s just ironic that it will be in different colours and it’s amazing the stories football can write sometimes.
Whatever happens on the night, he will get an amazing reception from the home fans because he has played a huge part in getting the club where it is now.
