Manchester City midfielder heading to Aston Villa in £15m deal

Aston Villa are on the verge of signing Manchester City midfielder Douglas Luiz in a £15m deal, claims The Daily Telegraph.

Luiz is on his way to the United States to finalise his move with the newly promoted Premier League side and join their pre-season tour.

The 21-year-old joined City for £10m two years ago and leaves without making a competitive appearance for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Luiz was billed as a potential long-term replacement for Fernandinho but has spent the last two seasons on loan with Spanish side Girona.

The Premier League champions were forced to send Luiz out on loan after being denied a work permit and he is still highly rated by Guardiola.

Villa, who are confident of overcoming any permit issues, have agreed a fee of £15m for the Brazil Under-23 captain but City are believed to have inserted a buy-back clause into the deal.

Dean Smith’s side have been one of the busiest Premier League sides in the summer transfer window and Luiz will become the club’s eighth permanent signing over the weekend.

Villa’s spending spree will almost certainly surpass the £100m mark and Luiz’s imminent arrival ends the club’s search for a new defensive midfielder to ease the burden on aging duo Mile Jedinak and Glenn Whelan.

Villa have been heavily linked with a move for Leeds ace Kalvin Phillips this summer but were priced out of a move after Leeds slapped a stunning £30m asking price on his head.

Luiz made 38 league appearances across two seasons for Girona, though only 17 of those were starts.

Of players that attempted at least 25 dribbles in LaLiga during that period, Luiz had the best dribbles success rate (93.1%), accentuating his only statistically calculated WhoScored strength of dribbling.

However, the youngster will need to curb his temperament for life in the Premier League. In fact, only three players (15+ starts) in LaLiga were booked more frequently than Luiz over the last two seasons (one every 162 minutes of action).