Nottingham Forest plotting shock swoop for £45m Aston Villa 'target'

Premier League dark horses Nottingham Forest are reportedly attempting to sign Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz on loan this January.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, currently third in the English top tier and just as close to leaders Arsenal as they are sixth-placed Manchester City, are eager to bolster their squad ahead of the rest of the season. Champions League football is a genuine possibility if Forest can carry on their exceptional form and marquee new signings could improve their chances.

Mail Sport reports Forest, keen to add quality in midfield, have lodged an official enquiry to Juventus over the potential loan signing of Luiz. It’s claimed the 26-year-old’s services have already been proposed to Manchester United, Manchester City and Fulham but Forest are said to be “leading the race”.

Luiz has been linked tentatively with a return to Villa Park over recent weeks but there haven’t been any credible reports as of yet. Nonetheless, TBR Football has claimed this week that Villa want to re-sign Luiz but only on loan as the funds aren’t available to bring him back permanently.

His exit was only sanctioned to protect Villa against a potential breach of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) after all, so it wouldn’t make sense to splash out on the same player less than a year later.

To comply with PSR, Villa had to sell Moussa Diaby to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ittihad for a slight profit at £52 million just 12 months after signing him from Bayer Leverkusen. Luiz was another player sacrificed as he was included in a major swap deal, sold for £42.35 million while Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea moved in the other direction for a combined £18.6 million.

Douglas Luiz enduring nightmare at Juventus

It’s been far from an ideal start to live in Italy for Luiz as he’s made only two starts across all competitions, racking up just 16 appearances and 354 minutes altogether. The 18-time Brazil international arrived in Turin following on from his best season in claret and blue - with nine goals and five assists in 35 Premier League games - but he’s not scored once for his new club.

Juve manager Thiago Motta has instead preferred utilising the likes of Khephren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Teun Koopmeiners and Nicolas Fagioli in the centre of the park. Luiz is well down the pecking order, even behind Weston McKennie who was arguably a flop for Leeds United in the Premier League two seasons back.

Villa were excited to be reunited with Luiz in November as Juve played out a 0-0 UEFA Champions League draw at Villa Park but the midfielder wasn’t even in the squad. Going from playing over 2,600 Premier League minutes in five successive seasons to hardly featuring at all for Juve must be coming as quick the shock.