Man Utd make ‘expensive offer’ for Aston Villa hero with ‘option to buy’ Brazil midfielder ‘turned down’

Manchester United reportedly failed with an attempt to sign Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus in the ‘final hours’ of the winter transfer window.

Luiz has struggled since joining Juventus from Aston Villa last summer.

His departure from Villa Park was ultimately down to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), with the Villans desperate to raise funds.

They signed Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea from Juventus in return and sent the former on loan to Bologna and the latter to Valencia.

Iling-Junior had his loan terminated in January and he has joined Middlesbrough for the rest of the 2024/25 campaign.

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Anyway, back to Luiz and it has not been a happy time for him since moving to Turin.

The 26-year-old has been unable to nail down a starting spot in Thiago Motta’s team and has zero goal contributions in 19 appearances across all competitions.

There is now a chance for him to impress after a difficult six months, with fellow midfielder Nicolo Fagioli joining Fiorentina on loan.

Fagioli might only have two more starts than the Brazilian in Serie A this season but there are more minutes up for grabs, and Motta appears to have faith in Luiz filling the void.

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That is because, despite being reportedly interested in selling Luiz in January, Juventus turned down an offer from Manchester United.

That is according to Italian transfer expert Nicolo Schira, who says the Red Devils ‘offered an expensive loan with the option to buy’.

However, Juve ‘turned down the bid’, which came ‘in the last hours of the winter transfer window’.

As touched on already, Luiz’s minutes should increase in the second half of the season.

A separate report from Goal Italia says Motta is expected to start the Brazilian midfielder more often and the player’s physical problems ‘seem to have been resolved’.

Man Utd only signed Lecce wing-back Patrick Dorgu in January, despite crying out for a new striker.

The funds were not there to be spent in Ruben Amorim’s first transfer window at the club due to the aforementioned PSR.

Amorim had hoped to sell Marcus Rashford but the England winger only earned a loan move in the winter window, joining Luiz’s former club Aston Villa.

Alejandro Garnacho was another Man Utd player who was strongly linked with an exit, with Chelsea believed to be keen.

A transfer failed to come to fruition after the Red Devils demanded at least £60million for the Argentine winger.

Man Utd’s next match is against Leicester City, who are now managed by Red Devils legend Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy took charge of four Man Utd games between Erik ten Hag’s sacking and Amorim’s appointment, defeating Leicester before going on to replace Steve Cooper as their head coach.

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