Arsenal have reportedly made a late move to sign Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz in an attempt to reinforce their midfield – and we've compared his stats to the options currently at Mikel Arteta's disposal.
Villa have been adamant that Luiz, who has also attracted interest from Chelsea, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, is not for sale even though the 24-year-old has indicated he will now not sign a new contract.
The player himself is reportedly keen on a move to the Emirates this summer.
Luiz came off the bench and scored in Villa's defeat against Arsenal in August 2022 and would potentially be available for around £20million.
Arsenal have been interested in adding a new central midfielder all summer and their desire for more options in that area of the pitch has been strengthened by injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny.
“We are looking at options,” Arteta told Sky after the Villa game. “Obviously [Elneny's injury] has an impact because Thomas Partey is injured and we are a bit short in that position. We do have Albert Sambi Lokonga and Granit Xhaka who can play there.
“We are just looking at options in the market. As I said, the club has been super supportive to try to keep improving the squad and the team as we can, and if the right player is available and we can do it, we will try.”
Now, Sky are reporting that Arsenal have lodged a bid with Villa for Douglas Luiz.
But how would Luiz slot in at the Emirates? We've compared his 2021-22 Premier League stats with the corresponding league numbers of Arsenal's current set of midfielders.
Goals
Martin Odegaard – 7
Douglas Luiz – 2
Thomas Partey – 2
Grant Xhaka – 1
Mohamed Elneny – 0
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 0
Assists
Martin Odegaard – 4
Douglas Luiz – 3
Mohamed Elneny – 2
Grant Xhaka – 2
Thomas Partey – 1
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 0
Minutes per goal or assist
Martin Odegaard – 253.9
Mohamed Elneny – 401
Douglas Luiz – 544
Grant Xhaka – 777
Thomas Partey – 677.3
Albert Sambi Lokonga – N/A
Chances created per 90 minutes
Martin Odegaard – 2.5
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 1.4
Douglas Luiz – 1.2
Grant Xhaka – 1.2
Mohamed Elneny – 1.0
Thomas Partey – 0.8
Successful dribbles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Thomas Partey – 1.6 (80%)
Douglas Luiz – 0.8 (57.2%)
Martin Odegaard – 0.8 (53.3%)
Grant Xhaka – 0.7 (70%)
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 0.2 (66.6%)
Mohamed Elneny – 0 (0%)
Passes per 90 minutes (passing accuracy)
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 65.0 (88.4%)
Mohamed Elneny – 63.4 (93.4%)
Grant Xhaka – 59.6 (86.8%)
Thomas Partey – 53.4 (85.6%)
Martin Odegaard – 50.2 (86%)
Douglas Luiz – 48.0 (86.9%)
Successful tackles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Douglas Luiz – 2.0 (55.5%)
Thomas Partey – 1.9 (61.2%)
Mohamed Elneny – 1.8 (75%)
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 1.7 (89.4%)
Martin Odegaard – 1.6 (55.1%)
Grant Xhaka – 1.2 (54.5%)
Interceptions per 90 minutes
Mohamed Elneny – 1.6
Douglas Luiz – 1.1
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 1.0
Thomas Partey – 1.0
Grant Xhaka – 0.8
Martin Odegaard – 0.4
Shots per 90 minutes (inside penalty area)
Thomas Partey – 1.9 (0.6)
Martin Odegaard – 1.7 (0.7)
Albert Sambi Lokonga – 1.6 (0.2)
Grant Xhaka – 1.1 (0.7)
Mohamed Elneny – 0.9 (0)
Douglas Luiz – 0.8 (0.1)