Douglas Luiz Getty Images

Arsenal eye late move for Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz

  • Arsenal want to bring in a new midfielder
  • Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny are out injured
  • Luiz is in the final year of his Aston Villa contract

WHAT'S HAPPENING? The Gunners are pushing to bring in another midfielder due to injuries suffered by Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny.

Mikel Arteta worked with Luiz before during their time together at Manchester City and the Brazilian is understood to be keen to reunite with the Spaniard in north London.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Luiz scored for Villa against Arsenal in their 2-1 defeat at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.

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But the Brazil international has less than one year left on his current contract and has so far resisted Villa's attempts to get him to sign a new deal.

AND WHAT'S MORE: Speaking about Luiz's future after Wednesday night's game, Villa boss Steven Gerrard said: "I’m not in control of that. There are more than two people who are in control of that and I am not one of them. I would like to keep him, he’s a fantastic player. I’ve made that abundantly clear.

"We are not in a position where we need to lose our top players but at the same time Douglas has got a year to go and it’s one of those touchy situations where the club need to do what's best for the club, not necessarily what’s best for me."

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey and Ghana.Getty.

Mohamed Elneny, Newcastle vs Arsenal 2021-22GettyDouglas Luiz

THE VERDICT: This would be a smart signing by Arsenal, if they can tempt Villa into doing business. Arteta knows Luiz well and at 24 he fits the profile of the type of player Arsenal want to bring to the club.

Luiz would not replace Partey if the Ghanian is fit, but he would certainly improve the squad and bring more competition to the midfield.

WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL? Top of the table Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday looking to make it six straight league wins at the start of the season for only the second time in the club's history.

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