Douglas Luiz transfer news: Aston Villa verbally agree deal to re-sign midfielder on loan from Juventus
Aston Villa are set to re-sign Douglas Luiz from Juventus on loan; Unai Emery's side are suffering a midfielder shortage after injuries to Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn; Luiz has been on loan at Nottingham Forest this season but has hardly featured in the Premier League
Wednesday 28 January 2026 18:01, UK
Douglas Luiz is undergoing a medical at Aston Villa after the club verbally agreed a deal to re-sign the midfielder on loan from Juventus.
Once the paperwork is completed, the 27-year-old will join Villa on loan with an option to buy in the summer, just 18 months after he left to join the Serie A club.
Any permanent aspect of a deal would only cost Villa a fraction of the £43m (€50m) they sold him to Juventus for in June 2024.
"I think so [deal close]," Emery said in his pre-match press conference ahead of facing RB Salzburg on Thursday, when asked about signing Luiz.
Villa want midfield reinforcements in part because of recent injuries to Boubacar Kamara, who is ruled out for the season, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans, who sustained an ankle injury in their victory at Newcastle last weekend.
Emery has since confirmed Tielemans will miss up to 10 weeks with an ankle problem, while McGinn had surgery and could be sidelined for eight weeks.
He continued: "After those updates, we need to manage centre midfield with the matches, we are involving Douglas Luiz for this reason and Amadou Onana is coming back.
"Ross Barkley is coming back in a few days. He is so close to joining us. He will be very important. We also have George Hemmings. He has huge potential."
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Luiz's return to Villa is a timely one and he has always had his heart set on returning to Villa, where he feels he had the happiest time of his career, despite interest from Chelsea.
Sky Sports News has been told he feels his heart is still at Villa and this was the move he really wanted.
Luiz has spent this season on loan at Nottingham Forest but has only started five Premier League matches, amounting to just 318 minutes in total.
Luiz, who made over 200 appearances for Villa between 2019 and 2024, is still contracted to Juventus until 2029.
His loan at Forest included an obligation to buy that was conditional on the number of appearances he makes.
Villa are currently third in the Premier League, level on 46 points with Manchester City, and are well placed to progress in the Europa League as well as being in FA Cup competition.
