Former forward Kevin Campbell has told his old club to sign midfielder Douglas Luiz this summer.
The 23-year-old only has a year remaining on his contract and is set to leave Villa Park at the end of the season as Steven Gerrard lines up either or Kalvin Phillips as his replacement.
Back in January, Arsenal were rumoured to have failed in a late bid to sign Luiz and it is believed they will return for the midfielder when the summer window opens as Mikel Arteta looks to beef up his threadbare squad.
Campbell, who won five trophies with the north Londoners in the early nineties, thinks Luiz would be a ‘great’ signing for Arsenal and could form a strong partnership with .
Speaking to, he said: ‘I think he’d be a great partner for Partey.
‘You can see us struggling in midfield right now. (Mohamed) Elneny is not the answer. He will be gone at the end of the season.
‘(Granit) Xhaka is our second best because he is experienced in there but I still have a question mark over him.
‘Douglas Luiz is hungry, young and is a good ball player. I think he could come in and do a really good job.
‘We need numbers as well. It is not just a matter on signing starters. We need a squad. At the moment our squad is not up to scratch. We are weaker than other teams.’
Luiz is already well known to Arteta who worked with the Brazilian at Manchester City when he was Pep Guardiola’s No.2.
After being signed by City in 2017, Luiz struggled to attain a work permit and was loaned out to the Spanish side Girona for two years.
Struggling to breakthrough in Manchester, he left in 2019 and headed to Villa Park where he has become a mainstay in the team, having made 96 Premier League appearances in the last three seasons.
His performances in the heart of Villa’s midfield have caught the attention of Arteta who wants to bolster an area of his squad which has been exposed by Partey’s absences this season.
Speaking earlier this month, Arteta confirmed his intention to sign more players in the summer as he anticipates the club qualifying for Europe next season.
He said: ‘The Champions League and the Europa League both require a much larger squad because the amount of games is much bigger.
‘If we can afford it financially and we don’t have to do the turnaround in the squad that we’ve had to, what I want is 22 outfield players and three goalkeepers.’
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