Right from the start, the deal proposed to take Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa to Juventus was rather dramatic.
The Premier League club obviously hadn’t wanted to lose the Brazilian, and that can likely be said even more strongly for their fans.
What was coming from Juventus wasn’t seen as adequate compensation for the midfielder. Weston McKennie may have had a better time last season, but it has to be remembered he wasn’t great at Leeds United and there’s a reason Juve sent him on loan there in the first place.
Samuel Iling-Junior could be one for the future, yet right now it would be something of a gamble. And adding €20m to those two just didn’t feel like enough.
Regardless, that’s what Aston Villa are said to have agreed, and it’s only McKennie’s financial demands which are holding things up.
Quoted by JuventusNews24, he said: “We need to understand how difficult it is for the market to operate at these levels. Just think of the Douglas Luiz deal, a midfielder who Juventus needs like hotcakes. Juventus and Aston Villa have reached an agreement also considering the financial fair play stakes for the English.”
Elsewhere in Italy there’s been similar sentiment, and whilst the idea of another Juventus player being included has been floated, that isn’t easy in itself.
Not only would both clubs have to agree on the individual, but they’d then also have to agree on his book value in the deal.
Swap deals are never easy. Swap deals which involve three players and a negotiation on the book value of each are far harder.
Monchi is playing in difficult mode.
