da apostebet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
da betcris： Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has stated that the club have the option to sign Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz in the summer, per the Manchester Evening News.
What’s the word?
Luiz joined City in 2017 but never played a game for the club due to work permit issues.
He was loaned to Girona for two seasons, playing 46 times, prior to his move to Villa, which cost the newly-promoted club a total of £15m.
Guardiola, though, says that City, who beat Villa 3-0 on Saturday, have inserted an option to bring the Brazilian back to the Etihad should they so wish next summer.
He said: “He would be here if a work permit were possible if the Premier League said it would be possible but now he is at Aston Villa.
“We have an option to get him back but sometimes life is like this. We wanted him because last season we had problems in that position because we didn’t buy a holding midfielder.
“We wanted him before so we thought about it but the rules with the work permit meant it was not possible. I thought he would be here with the pre-season he played last year in the States, he was really good. I think he had the quality to play with us but he could not do it.
“The talent is always there, we’ll see at the end of the season what his level is but the quality is always there.”
Fernandinho replacement
Luiz could potentially be something of a replacement to the ageing Fernandinho at City and one feels that Guardiola will know that.
The 21-year-old is at the start of his Premier League career while his compatriot, 34, is approaching the end of his. Ironically enough, the latter was sent off against Dean Smith’s men at The Etihad Stadium.
Statistically, Fernandinho averages 0.2 key passes per game in the top-flight, a pass success rate of 91.6%, 1.4 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 3.2 clearances, per WhoScored.
Luiz, by comparison, averages 0.4 key passes, a completion rate of 87.3%, 0.9 tackles, 0.4 interceptions and 1.3 clearances. He also has two league goals this season.
One feels that, with the correct coaching and by being surrounded by better players, Luiz’s stats would only rise.
The deal could be revisited in the future and it may well be wise for City to do so; if Luiz impresses for a team that have looked steady and organised since their promotion, he could well find himself back in Manchester sooner or later.