Aston Villa have shown that they are no strangers to splashing the cash since their promotion back to the Premier League in 2019.

Under Dean Smith, Villa spent £20m to sign Tyrone Mings to Villa Park and the season after, brought Ollie Watkins to the Midlands, spending over £30m to secure their man and boost their survival hopes.

One transfer that perhaps went slightly under the radar compared to the bigger buys was that of Douglas Luiz from Manchester City. Luiz only cost the newly promoted side £15m and it proved to be a very successful transfer.

Luiz has played 105 matches for the side, scoring four and assisting eight times, a decent return for a defensive midfielder.

He excelled in his first season, gelling into the club well as Villa retained their Premier League status. This prompted the Athletic's Greg Evans to describe him as an “absolute star” following a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United in July 2020. Going as far as to say, “he could have played in that Man Utd team."

High praise indeed for the Brazilian and it was justified, especially in his first two campaigns, this season has been tougher, however.

The 23-year-old had 1.1 shots per game during his first season compared to just 0.8 for this campaign. Last season saw him win 1.3 aerial duels compared to just 0.8 this year, however, his pass success percentage has risen subsequently every season, to a high of 86.3% as Villa has struggled at times under Steven Gerrard.

There is no doubt that Luiz is a class player, and this is reflected in his market value. This was only £9m in September 2019 at Villa Park, but it has now risen to a whopping £31.5m as of December 2021.

Gerrard could make a tidy profit on the midfielder if he is aiming to bring in his own players, but it might be wise to keep him, he has a bright future that’s for sure.

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