The Athletic has confirmed that Aston Villa have agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Chelsea target Douglas Luiz on loan until the end of the season. Luiz has agreed to a move, with the two clubs now finalising the deal, which includes an option to buy. The transfer will cut short his season-long loan at Nottingham Forest from Juventus and see him reunite with Unai Emery, having previously worked with the coach during his spell at Aston Villa between 2019 and 2024.
Chelsea declining to go forward with a deal led to Aston Villa signing the player
An earlier report from tuttosport has reported that Aston Villa manager Unai Emery was keen to reunite with Douglas Luiz again, and now Villa have fulfilled their manager's wishes. Chelsea had also considered signing him on loan for the rest of the season, but opted not to pursue the deal after an initial enquiry, choosing instead to prioritise Andrey Santos and other options already in their squad. This is what ultimately helped Villa get a deal done for the player at the earliest with no competition.
Douglas Luiz return a relief for Unai Emery as Aston Villa are currently in an injury crisis
Unai Emery is set to welcome Douglas Luiz back to Aston Villa as the club battles a growing injury crisis in midfield. With Boubacar Kamara out for the season, John McGinn sidelined for around 2 months, and Youri Tielemans facing a lengthy absence, Villa had already been considering reinforcements. While other options like Ruben Loftus-Cheek were explored, serious talks over Luiz had only gathered pace in recent days.
Douglas Luiz had an underwhelming time at Juventus and Nottingham Forest
Luiz joined Juventus from Aston Villa in the summer of 2024 for around €50 million, but found it hard to settle in Italy, completing a full 90 minutes just twice in his first season.The 27-year-old later moved on loan to Nottingham Forest, though injuries limited him to only eight league appearances. His Forest deal included conditional and optional purchase clauses, but those are now irrelevant after his early exit, with Luiz set to return to Villa instead.
Douglas Luiz will be hoping to replicate the huge success of his previous Aston Villa stint
Douglas Luiz first joined Aston Villa in July 2019 and quickly made an impact, scoring his first goal within a month of his debut. He gained wider attention in 2022 after scoring directly from corners in back-to-back matches, including a memorable strike against Arsenal.
After attracting transfer interest from Arsenal in 2022, Luiz committed his future to Villa with a new long-term deal and enjoyed an outstanding 2023–24 season, finishing with 10 goals and 10 assists. His performances were recognised when he won both the Players’ Player and Supporters’ Player of the Season awards in May 2023. He left the club and joined Juventus On 30 June 2024.
Our opinion on Douglas Luiz returning to Aston Villa
Douglas Luiz was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League during his first stint at Aston Villa under Unai Emery, and very few would've predicted such a downfall for him after his transfer to Juventus. The majority expected Luiz to be a huge success at Juventus, but such is the unexpected nature of football transfers, as not all moves go according to plan. His loan move to Forest was underwhelming as well.
Unai Emery is one of the best managers in world football when it comes to getting the best out of a player, with Marcus Rashford being a huge example of that. We are not sure if Luiz will be able to replicate the same form he enjoyed during his first Villa stint, but we are certain that Emery will help Luiz get back his confidence and get him to play better again.
