Arsenal to reignite interest in Brazilian warrior – but £45m star wants to LEAVE: report

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during a training session at London Colney on September 29, 2023 in St Albans, England.
(Image credit: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal are already preparing for the January transfer window, with one incoming signing set to replace a wantaway star at the Emirates Stadium.

Now a genuine title force under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have gone from strength to strength in recent years, and are showing no signs of complacency as they continuously look to improve their squad.

While Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya all arrived in the summer for more than £200m, Arteta still feels more is needed if they're to topple Manchester City this season - especially as one key squad member wants to leave. 

According to 90min, Arsenal are set to reignite their interest in signing Douglas Luiz, following his impressive start to the 2023/24 campaign at Aston Villa under former Gunners manager Unai Emery.

Arsenal target and Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz celebrates after scoring against West Ham

Luiz has been highly impressive at the start of the season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Arsenal tried to sign Luiz in the summer of 2022, but had three bids rejected by Aston Villa. Their best offer, of £25m, still fell short of what Villa wanted for the 25-year-old, seeing Arsenal end their pursuit.

After his impressive start to the 2023/24 campaign, though, where he has already bagged five Premier League goals, Mikel Arteta wants to go back in for Luiz, who know each other following their time together at Manchester City. 

The report indicates that Arteta and Arsenal sporting director Edu are huge admirers of Luiz, and could make a move for him in January to bolster their squad even further. 

While Aston Villa reportedly won't entertain any offers for Luiz in January, a hefty transfer fee for the Brazilian could tempt them into selling. With two-and-a-half years still remaining on his contract and valued at £50m by Transfermarkt, they're certainly in no rush to sell Luiz.

Arsenal star Thomas Partey during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Emirates Stadium on May 28, 2023 in London, United Kingdom.

Thomas Partey reportedly wants to leave (Image credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Thomas Partey, however, has grown frustrated at his lack of game time for Arsenal this season, having started three games and making one substitute appearance in the Premier League so far. Signed from Atletico Madrid in 2020 for £45m, Partey is considering leaving Arsenal in January for more regular minutes, according to 90min.

The report suggests that the Ghanaian midfielder is willing to fight for his place under Mikel Arteta, but Jorginho being preferred to start against Chelsea in the 2-2 draw has highlighted where he sits in the pecking order.

More Arsenal stories

Declan Rice has exclusively revealed to FourFourTwo why he chose to sign for Arsenal this summer.

FFT also caught up with former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, who explained why he turned down a move to the Saudi Pro League in favour of re-joining Cardiff City.

Meanwhile, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has said that leaving Real Madrid was the "best decision" he could have made for his career.

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.