The fact that Manchester City chose not to activate a buyback clause in order to sign Douglas Luiz truly surprised Aston Villa.
That’s what The Athletic claims.
What then was said regarding Manchester City and Douglas Luiz? Let’s look at this…
What’s the story?
In July 2019, Luiz was acquired by Aston Villa for a sum of £15 million from Manchester City, following the Citizens’ inability to obtain a work permit for the Brazilian.
A £30 million buyback clause that was good until 2021 was negotiated by Manchester City when they agreed to sell the South American to Aston Villa.
The Manchester Evening News claims that Manchester City let Luiz’s £30 million clause expire because they didn’t think he had done enough at Villa Park to warrant it.
The Athletic claims that despite this, Aston Villa felt the Brazil international had accomplished enough, as evidenced by the fact that they approved a £14 million deal for out of concern that Manchester City would exercise their buyback option.
Aston Villa had intended to reinvest that £30 million into additional additions beyond Sanson, but Manchester City chose to ignore him, much to the surprise of those at Villa Park and those close to Luiz.
The Athletic further reports that Pep Guardiola decided against searching for a new midfield player and instead gave Fernandinho a new contract.
Manchester City made a mistake with Douglas Luiz
It’s a wonderful thing to look back. Since Luiz had, in all honesty, not demonstrated enough to merit a £30 million contract at the time, Manchester City was probably right to pass on spending that much money on him.
But now, Guardiola believes he has a player who can command at least £60 million to rule the Premier League.
This season, in just ten Premier League games, Luiz has already scored five goals and provided one assist.
It’s a wonderful thing to look back. Since Luiz had, in all honesty, not demonstrated enough to merit a £30 million contract at the time, Manchester City was probably right to pass on spending that much money on him.
But now, Guardiola believes he has a player who can command at least £60 million to rule the Premier League.
This season, in just ten Premier League games, Luiz has already scored five goals and provided one assist.
Even more, Alan Shearer asserted that the 25-year-old had changed Aston Villa.Guardiola has an embarrassing array of midfield talent, including Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, so Manchester City won’t care. However, the opportunity to sign Luiz for just £30 million now seems like a rare error on the part of the Etihad Stadium recruitment team.
