New Juventus manager Thiago Motta has made a surprising claim about Douglas Luiz in his first press-conference as boss.
Thiago Motta has become the Juventus manager aged just 41 after impressing at Bologna where he achieved a Champions League finish last season.
Unai Emery achieved the same feat with Aston Villa, but would have been disappointed that the club’s need to comply with Premier League spending rules left them with little choice but to sell Douglas Luiz.
Juventus were the suitors for Luiz, with the Italian giants the only club willing to make their interest concrete prior to the 30th June PSR deadline.
Villa and Juve agreed to what became effectively a swap deal as Juve paid around £42 million for Luiz and Villa signed both Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea from the Turin club.
- READ MORE: Aston Villa have now enquired for another Juventus talent after Iling-Junior and Barrenechea
Motta spoke on all things Juve to the media at his official presentation, including making a claim about Luiz that will come as a surprise to Villa fans.
Thiago Motta claims Douglas Luiz could play in defence for Juventus
Luiz was crucial to Villa last season, playing a remarkable 53 games and registering ten goals and ten assists.
This was by far the most fruitful season of Luiz’ career, owing much to the fact Emery often deployed the Brazilian in a more advanced role than we have become accustomed to seeing.
When Boubacar Kamara injured his ACL in February, Luiz showed he is still very capable of playing as the midfield anchor, but Motta has now claimed he could even use the 26-year-old in defence.
Speaking at his presentation, Motta said: “Douglas Luiz is a great player. I see him both lower and higher and lower in midfield, he can also be the defender.”
Playing Luiz in defence would be a waste of his talents
Luiz is a very talented footballer who has shown across his career that he can adapt to play a number of different roles.
However, he has never played in defence in his career and it would seem a waste of his attributes to deploy him in the the backline.
Luiz is a very creative midfielder with technical ability in abundance, he can drive with the ball as well as pick out incisive passes; all talents that would be stifled in defence.
Luiz is no longer Villa’s problem and they will be keen to focus on their new-look midfield, but this is certainly a claim that will leave the Villa Park faithful scratching their heads.
