Douglas Luiz return to Aston Villa to contain significant clause as Ornstein explains Chelsea U-turn

Aston Villa are on the cusp of finalising the signing of Douglas Luiz for a second spell at Villa Park, with news emerging of the key clause the move will contain and with David Ornstein explaining exactly why a move to Chelsea did not get over the line.

The Brazilian star was a key figure at Aston Villa before being sold to Juventus in a €50m deal in summer 2024 in a move more enforced by the Midlands side’s PSR limitations. But after just 27 appearances for the Italian side and having failed to reproduce the brilliant form that had earned him 18 caps for Brazil, Luiz was on the move again, this time joining Nottingham Forest on a season’s loan.

But with Sean Dyche’s side ready to cancel that agreement, the 27-year-old star has been in talks over a number of potential deals, with both Vasca da Gama and, more recently, Chelsea exploring moves.

A move to Stamford Bridge had looked likely after a loan deal for the remainder of the season was proposed.

However, as our transfer correspondent, Graeme Bailey, revealed on January 22, Villa had made a counter move to convince the player to return to the club where he made his name.

And when Unai Emery lost Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara to injury, Villa stepped up the hunt and have moved swiftly to tie up an agreement with Juventus.

It’s understood that Luiz, who has been undergoing a medical on Wednesday, will return to Villa Park on loan for the remainder of the season, but with Villa also negotiating an option to make his return permanent in the summer should he impress. That option has been fixed at £21m (€24m, $29m) with add-ons potentially taking it up to £24m (€27.5m, $33m).

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Ornstein explains Douglas Luiz move and Chelsea snub

With the move expected to be rubberstamped in the coming hours, Luiz could be available to make his second debut for the club in Sunday’s clash against Brentford at Villa Park (2pm kick-off).

Now Ornstein has explained exactly why Luiz was so keen to return to Aston Villa and having also given an explanation as to why his Chelsea move failed.

“Chelsea were interested in him, they evaluated a short-term deal for him,” Ornstein told Sky Sports.

“Ultimately, they decided not to crack on with that and they are going to prioritise the likes of Andrey Santos and their existing options.

“I spoke to so many people who said for Douglas Luiz it was only Aston Villa, he was fixated on it, he obviously had such fond memories from his previous spell.

“I think he only left because of the PSR situation at Villa, otherwise he probably would have stayed. Remember that January when Arsenal came for him with three, four, five bids and Villa stood firm and they knew the player was so committed he signed a new contract after that.”

Latest Aston Villa news: Bundesliga defender to sign; Liverpool links assessed

Meanwhile, Aston Villa have overtaken Leeds United in the race to sign a powerful Bundesliga star, according to a report in the German press – and Emery’s side also have an ace up their sleeves owing to a family connection to another Villa man.

Elsewhere, a journalist has dropped a major update on claims that Liverpool are ready to make a bold move to sign one of Emery’s most influential stars in a blockbuster summer deal.

With Villa enjoying an excellent January on and off the pitch, we have taken a look at what their revamped attacking unit could look like off the back of an impressive triple raid as optimism grows of not just a top-four finish but, potentially, even more.

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