Arsenal beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday with Douglas Luiz scoring from a corner for the second time this season; Steven Gerrard said his Villa future was a 'touchy situation' but he will now remain with the club; Villa have also signed Leander Dendoncker from Wolves
Friday 2 September 2022 11:16, UK
Aston Villa have rejected Arsenal's third and final offer of £25m for midfielder Douglas Luiz.
Arsenal also saw bids of £20m and £23m rejected by Villa earlier on Thursday and even Villa's capture of Leander Dendoncker from Wolves didn't shift their position on the Brazilian.
Sky Sports News had been told that four clubs - Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool - were interested in signing Luiz ahead of the transfer deadline.
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta wanted the player and has worked with him at Manchester City. Luiz - who is out of contract next summer - would like to play for a club in the Champions League.
On Wednesday, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid also made a move for him. Juventus were interested as well. He can speak to foreign clubs like Atletico and Juventus from November 18 and leave as a free agent next summer.
Arsenal beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday night, but despite their perfect start of five wins from five, Arteta admitted he is wary about his strength in depth in the middle of the park following a spate of injuries.
Speaking about Arsenal's potential Deadline Day moves after the match, he said: "We are looking at options. Obviously [Mohamed 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."
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard says Douglas Luiz 'understood' why the club chose not to sell him in the final few days of the transfer window.
Asked on Friday whether the transfer saga would affect his performance, Gerrard said: "Knowing the boy and the player, I doubt it. I've got confidence he'll under the situation and the club's decision that we didn't want to lose a very important player and a top player so late in the window. From a personal point of view, I back the club's decision and stance on that.
"I spoke to Douglas face to face yesterday and he understood where it was at and the position that the club was in and he respects the decision. Hopefully it'll calm down in the days coming and he'll be find moving forward."
Barcelona have completed the free signing of Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin.
Bellerin, who began his career with Barca, has signed a one-year deal at the Nou Camp while Arsenal have a sell-on clause attached to the deal.
He joined the Arsenal academy as a teenager back in 2011 and made 239 appearances for the Gunners since making his debut in 2014.
The 27-year-old's last Arsenal appearance came in a 1-0 win at Chelsea in May 2021 and spent last season on loan at Copa del Rey winners Real Betis.
