Juventus is just waiting for time to complete the transfer process for Aston Villa midfielder, Douglas Luiz. An agreement with the player has reportedly been reached and the Bianconeri are now ahead of Arsenal in the race.
The Gunners are looking for a new central midfielder and reports have claimed that Mikel Arteta’s side are considering a new move for the 26-year-old this summer.
However, Juventus are leading the race to sign Luiz and are now close to reaching an agreement with Aston Villa.
According to a Sky Sports report, Unai Emery’s team asked Juventus to include two players Weston McKennie and 20-year-old winger Samuel Iling-Junior plus a transfer fee of 20 million euros for Luiz.
Player Barter Scheme
It is known that Luiz has agreed to join Juventus, while McKennie has agreed to move to Villa Park.
Meanwhile, talks continue over plans to recruit Iling-Junior, who spent nine years at Chelsea’s academy before moving to Juventus in 2020.
The 20-year-old, who was born in Islington and has represented England at Under-21 level, has made 45 appearances for the Bianconeri over the last two seasons.
Poignant Arsenal
Meanwhile, Arsenal will now look for a new midfielder after opting not to follow up on their previous interest in Luiz.
The Gunners had three bids for the Brazilian, the highest being £25 million, but were rejected by Aston Villa towards the end of the 2022 summer transfer window.
The Premier League runners-up have a strong interest in Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, and the Brazilian also has a £100 million release clause in his contract with Newcastle which expires at the end of June.
Arteta is also an admirer of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who is included in Spain’s squad for Euro 2024.
New Era of Juventus
The Bianconeri are overhauling their squad under the guidance of new coach, Thiago Motta, after Massimiliano Allegri was sacked with two games left of the season.
Apart from Luiz, Juventus are also pursuing deals for Serie A stars Teun Koopmeiners, Michele Di Gregorio and Riccardo Calafiori.
