Aston Villa want another Juventus star in Luiz swap move alongside McKennie

Aston Villa have demanded another Juventus player thrown into the deal for Douglas Luiz as they look to bolster their ranks this summer, it has emerged.

Villa bargain hunting

Thanks to Premier League financial fair play regulations, combined with Unai Emery’s side posting losses of £120m last year, money is tight in the Midlands this month. The Villans are under pressure to meet the rules before the cut-off point on June 30th, where they will be given much more license to strengthen their squad as the financial year resets.

As a result, they have only agreed a cut-price deal for Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley so far this summer, despite needing to strengthen ahead of the first season of Champions League football in the club’s history. It also means that deals for the likes of Conor Gallagher, who is thought to be valued at £50m, seem unlikely unless they can shift players off the books first.

To that end, they are trying to agree a deal to part ways with Douglas Luiz, who is keen to move on from Villa Park despite having enjoyed the best season of his career across 2023-24, and it is Juventus who are pushing hardest for his signature.

However, a purely cash deal seems unlikely. The Turin side are low on funds themselves and would prefer to try and engineer a part-exchange deal for the Brazilian midfielder, keeping their powder dry for other targets. Now, Villa have given the Old Lady their answer.

Emery’s side demanding cash plus two players

According to reports coming out of Italy, Emery’s side are not willing to let Luiz leave on the cheap, and will ask for a mammoth offer to see him depart. That is because they will demand around 20m euros (£17m) as well as two players in exchange for the 26-year-old.

The first of those is Weston McKennie. Out of contract in 12 months time, this is the last summer that Juve can extract any value out of the USA international and they seem intent on doing just that, having been linked with Villa for some time now.

The second, however, could provide a far more intriguing option for the Villans, with ex-Chelsea winger Samuel Iling-Junior among the players that they have discussed as a potential makeweight in any deal for Luiz.

The ex-Cobham academy man found minutes hard to come by under Juve boss Max Allegri, and has long been linked with a move away from Turin this summer amid interest from Tottenham. Still just 20-years-old, the left-footed winger has been deployed both in the final third and as a wing back by Allegri over his tenure with the Bianconeri, but his time with Juve could be rapidly coming to a close.

Now, Gianluca di Marzio reveals that ‘talks are progressing’ over Luiz’s move to Turin, but that Aston Villa ‘asked Juventus for Iling-Junior, Weston McKennie and 20m’ euros to make a move happen.

That does not seem to be a problem for Juve, who are only said to want to ‘lower Aston Villa’s financial request’ rather than remove any players, and as a result it is added that negotiations are ‘moving forward’ and that the clubs ‘are closer’ to an agreement than previously.

As it stands, everything points to Luiz plying his trade in Black and White next season. Villa fans will be hoping that the players they receive in return will make it look like an excellent value for money deal though.