Why it’s crucial that Aston Villa pen down Douglas Luiz to a new contract

Douglas Luiz has played a vital role in Aston Villa’s best start to a Premier League season since 2001/02, most recently in the Villans’ 3-0 dismantling of local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

Since arriving from Manchester City, Douglas has gone on to be called up to the Brazilian national team as well as fellow teammate, Wesley. However, Douglas Luiz has shown the Villa hierarchy why he deserves a new bumper contract in order to get rid of Pep Guardiola’s buy-back clause which is feared that the Citizens might utilize sooner rather than later.

It was at the Hawthorns where the Brazilian last proved his worth, holding together Villa’s midfield allowing for John McGinn and Bertrand Traore to ply their attacking threat on Sam Allardyce’s side who allowed for Villa to be so dominant in this West Midlands affair.

The 22-year-old has finally settled in under Dean Smith, having shown glimpses of potential in the last campaign in which Villa were almost relegated. Douglas has finally found the key to unlocking his potential in which he can become one of the league’s best defensive midfielders.

In their 3-0 rout at the Hawthorns, the midfielder recorded a pass accuracy of 91% and made two key passes. The Brazilian has show that he’s extremely capable of attacking as he is defending, so far this season Douglas hasn’t made any mistakes leading to goals which in comparison to last year is an improvement after giving away possession on his home debut against Bournemouth in which the Cherries scored from.

Recently at Villa Park, John McGinn was handed a new contract, penning him down at Villa Park until 2025 as well as Jack Grealish earlier in the season. Recent performances from Douglas Luiz has shown why he deserves a new contract at Villa Park, in order to fend off interest from Man City who implemented a buy-back clause rumoured to be around £25,000,000.

Douglas showed his impact on this Villa side after single handily stopping a West Brom counterattack from a poorly taken corner by Villa, having been exposed on the break, the Brazilian fended off the West Brom attacker with ease.

After Douglas returned from suspension, Dean Smith hailed his squad depth after their flawless win on the road, commenting.

“It was tough leaving Elmohamady and Nakamba out due to their performances against Burnley, but it was a quick turnaround to two days between the games and I thought it was right to bring fresh legs in, it’s been a good test of squad depth”

Despite Nakamba playing a brilliant game against Burnley, it wasn’t enough for the Zimbabwean to hold down his spot from Douglas Luiz.

This victory on the road sees Aston Villa move up to ninth place with two games in hand, whereas Allardyce faces an even tougher challenge as West Brom remain 19^th, three points adrift of safety.

All eyes turn now to boxing day as Dean Smith’s side host Crystal Palace, who lost 7-0 to Liverpool, a win for Villa will see them move even closer to the top six ahead of the new year.

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