Liverpool legend opens up on Anfield-linked PL midfielder

Steven Gerrard talks about the Douglas Luiz situation amid Liverpool links

Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz is a target for Liverpool. The rumours linking the Brazilian to Anfield became louder after Jordan Henderson’s apparent injury vs Newcastle United. The Villains’ manager Steven Gerrard spoke about his situation to Birmingham Mail and subsequently did not rule out a transfer for the 24-year-old. (h/t Liverpool Echo)

Gerrard admitted that things were “not in his control” when it came to Luiz’s future and also expressed that he would love to keep him at the club this summer and beyond. The Reds legend and his Villa team are coming off a 1-2 loss at the hands of Arsenal. Co-incidentally, Luiz was the goal scorer for the West Midlands outfit.

“I’m not in control of that. There’s two people, well, there’s more than two people who are in control of that, but I’m certainly not one of them.”

Along with Liverpool, their rivals Arsenal are also in the reckoning to sign the former Manchester City midfielder. The defensive-midfielder is capable of building up play from the back and would also suit Liverpool’s style of play providing a quality cover for our number 3, Fabinho. Furthermore, Gerrard added that it is up to Luiz and his agent whether the Brazilian would continue playing at Villa park or seek a move elsewhere.

“That will be Douglas, that will be his agent and that will be what happens around that. I’d like to keep him, he’s a fantastic player, I’ve made that abundantly clear. We are not in [a] position where we need to lose our top players, but at the same time Douglas has a year to go and it is one of them really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, not necessarily what is best for me.”

Luiz future at Aston Villa

As Stevie pointed out, Luiz still has a year left on his contract, and suitable buyers for the Brazilian would fetch a good deal for the player. Given Villa’s form in the league, they could do with some reinforcements after their marquee centre-back signing Diego Carlos suffered an injury which is likely to keep him out of the entire season.

Having said that, the transfer deadline is nearing soon and any form of paperwork should be completed swiftly for the players to be eligible to play. The Reds are no stranger to deadline-day signings. Luis Suarez, Mamadou Sakho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are among the names the Merseysiders have signed on the last day of the transfer window in the past.

With growing speculation of the Reds signing Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus, a move for Luiz seems unlikely, to say the least. Liverpool were linked to Frenkie de Jong and Ruben Neves in the last few weeks.

More Liverpool News:

• Transfer News: Liverpool join the race to sign Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge
• Liverpool Transfer News: Jurgen Klopp admits to losing out on a midfielder this summer
• Romano: Liverpool are looking at multiple midfielders besides Konrad Laimer

The Reds managed to scrape off a win against Newcastle United with Fabio Carvalho scoring at the last minute for Liverpool. Liverpool were out-run in the midfield at certain moments and the form calls for reinforcement.