Aston Villa sold one player in the summer who hasn’t seen his move work out as well as he would have liked.
Aston Villa’s hand was forced by PSR during the summer transfer window, prompting Unai Emery to offload multiple first-team stars.
One notable sale was record-signing Moussa Diaby. The Frenchman’s departure to Al-Ittihad just one year after joining came as a shock but the 25-year-old sought Saudi Arabian riches over playing in the Champions League.
Emery also sanctioned the £20 million exit of academy star Omari Kellyman to Chelsea. Initially signed for £600,000 from Derby County in July 2022, the 19-year-old brought some much-needed profit into the club.
However, the farewell that hurt the most was Douglas Luiz, who joined Juventus for around £40 million and satisfied Villa’s PSR concerns.
Thiago Motta praises Douglas Luiz
In an ideal world, Aston Villa would have kept Luiz, who played an instrumental role in Emery’s men qualifying for the Champions League last season.
Following his departure, many expected to thrive at Juventus but it hasn’t quite worked out, with Paolo Di Canio claiming Luiz looks ‘unrecognisable’ to the one that shone at Villa.
Italian journalist Fabio Ravezzani also claims that Luiz ‘trains badly’ and isn’t wanted but that isn’t a verdict shared by his manager, who holds arguably the most important opinion.
Despite playing just 178 minutes in Serie A and 44 minutes in the Champions League, Motta has praised the 26-year-old’s ‘great attitude’ in training and a ‘fantastic reaction’ to his poor start in Italy.
“Honestly I spoke very little with him, but at the same time I saw a great attitude in training, I think he is really good,” Motta said as per Bianconera News.
“For strong players like him, these moments of difficulty serve to see the reaction of the player and the person. And I saw a fantastic reaction, he could have stopped but instead he doesn’t stop and continues to train in the right way, also doing something more.”
The Italian boss even teased the possibility of him starting in their clash against Lazio on Saturday night.
“When I see him like this I’m very calm,” Motta said. “He’s on the right track to be the protagonist. When he played for me he did well but he can do better, we’ll see tomorrow if he will play from the beginning or not.”
Douglas Luiz will come good for Juventus
Moving to a new club, country and environment, along with a manager who plays a completely different style to Emery, was always going to present challenges to Luiz.
The Brazilian star spent five years at Villa Park and it wasn’t until Emery arrived that he developed into a complete midfielder.
That is a long time to spend at a club, especially in the modern era, so it’s no surprise that he’s struggled since leaving.
When he first joined Villa from Manchester City in 2019, Luiz took a while to hit form but once he did, he never looked back and rose to prominence.
Luiz can follow a similar narrative in Turin but only if the media and supporters stop jumping down his throat.
