Douglas Luiz has agreed to rejoin Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season, snubbing transfer interest from Chelsea.
The 27-year-old Brazilian is presently on loan at Nottingham Forest from Juventus, making 14 just appearances so far this campaign after missing some time with a hamstring injury.
Standard Sport reported last week that Chelsea were considering moving for a midfielder before the transfer window closes on February 2, with Luiz earmarked as a potential short-term replacement for the injured duo of Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo.
But the Blues appear to have been pipped to the post by their Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
The Birmingham club have been forced into the midfield market after Youri Tielemans and John McGinn both picked up long-term injuries. Boubacar Kamara has also been ruled out for the season in a further blow to Unai Emery’s side.
According to a report in The Telegraph, Luiz has made it clear that he wanted to re-sign with Villa rather than move to Chelsea, with the move now waiting to be formalised.
Villa will have an option to make Luiz’s loan permanent come the summer.
He has also turned down the opportunity to play in La Liga, where he spent two seasons on loan from Manchester City at their sister club Girona.
Luiz plied his trade for Villa between 2019 and 2024, making 204 appearances for the club before moving from Villa Park to Turin, making just 19 league appearances for Juventus before joining Forest on loan.
Responding last week to reports that Chelsea were interested in signing Luiz, head coach Liam Rosenior said he was not interested in adding players who he felt would not improve his squad.
“In terms of my midfield options, you've got Enzo [Fernandez], Moi [Moises Caicedo], Andrey Santos, Reece James. It's not bad,” he explained. “I've been really clear on this: I don't want to bring in players that don't enhance the group or the chemistry that we're building.
“So we have to be very selective at this stage of the season. If we do bring in the right player in a certain position, they have to have a clear impact on the team.”
