After signing from Manchester City for a reported fee of around £15m back in the summer of 2019, it’s fair to say Douglas Luiz has really come on leaps and bounds at Aston Villa.
The 22-year-old has been a permanent fixture in Dean Smith’s side since making the switch to Villa Park, already making 67 appearances for the first-team.
His form has even earned him international honours, picking up his first couple of senior caps for Brazil. It’s been no surprise then that his market value has absolutely sky-rocketed, more than doubling in value.
According to Transfermarkt, it now stands at £31.5m, and that’s a real testament to just how much his own play has improved, and how much Smith himself has helped him develop under his wing.
Speaking earlier in the summer, The Athletic journalist Gregg Evans, said of him: “He’s an absolute joy to watch now and I never thought I would be saying that. Villa have got a fantastic player in Douglas Luiz now, he looks like an absolute star, he could have played in that Man United team.
“He was better than (Paul) Pogba, I thought. I thought he was brilliant, hardly did anything wrong, hardly put a foot wrong. He won so many interceptions and made so many important blocks. When he gets the ball, he passes it nicely. He’s the best player in that Villa team at the moment because it’s just not working for John McGinn.”
Make no mistake about it, given how Luiz has developed at Villa Park since his move to the Midlands, Johan Lange played an absolute blinder in signing the Brazilian for the club.
If Villa ever contemplate selling him, or if rival clubs start showing some genuine interest in signing him, they know they could bring in a massive fee.
Meanwhile, this Villa man was shocking in the defeat to Spurs…