Douglas Luiz caught European attention when he joined Aston Villa on loan from Manchester City for the 2019/2020 season.
After four years with the Villans, he made the jump to join Juventus for the 2024/2025 season, with a peak market value of €70m and Juventus paying a fee of €51.5m.
Things haven’t quite worked out in his favour at Juventus, with Luiz joining Nottingham Forest on loan for the 2025/2026 season, before that deal was cut short this month.
His market value has dropped significantly to around €25m.
Chelsea made an initial approach to Juventus to discuss a fresh loan deal for Douglas Luiz this month.
His former club, Aston Villa, took the opportunity to hijack the deal by offering a paid loan agreement featuring a buyout clause.
In this Douglas Luiz scout report, we will take a look at the role Douglas Luiz is playing at Nottingham Forest and whether we think he’s making the right choice in re-joining Aston Villa, or if Chelsea would’ve been a better fit.
Many people may be writing off Douglas Luiz and forgetting the player he was, who, at one point, had many top clubs vying for his services.
Douglas Luiz Style Of Play
Douglas Luiz is an excellent ball carrier, a very intense player with a high work rate and a willingness to cover all areas, and an exceptional passer.
Although not a 6, he is more than capable of putting in a line and going for tackles.
He is a versatile midfielder who can play comfortably as a ‘6’ or an ‘8’ and can even move to ’10’.
There is no surprise that he is a very fluid midfielder with lots of versatility.
Douglas Luiz Stats
Looking at this Juventus radar map for the 2024/2025 season, we can see that Douglas Luiz ranks highly across many characteristics.
He ranks very high at the 92nd percentile for aerial duels won percentage.
He ranks in the 78th percentile for goal contribution per 90 and 79th percentile for shots per 90, indicating he likes to drift up the ice and can help the team offensively.
Given his excellent ball handling, it is no surprise he ranks in the 88th percentile for dribbles per 90.
Douglas Luiz Pizza Chart 2024/2025
Douglas Luiz Build-Up Play
When Nottingham Forest are halfway across their half of the pitch, Douglas Luiz is the main man in their build-up.
He is the centre at the ‘6’, looking to connect both sides of the pitch together and help break lines.
You can think of Douglas Luiz as a quarterback from the NFL.
A quarterback not only throws the ball but also runs forward when they see space and opportunity to gain yards.
Likewise, Douglas Luiz is not limited to playing deep and breaking lines but will drive forward when space opens up, and his close control makes him difficult to dispossess.
Douglas Luiz As An 8
One of Douglas Luiz’s best traits as a playmaker is the weight of his passes.
There is great accuracy, but also speed and weight on his passes, far better than most midfielders, almost like the ball is a magnet to his teammates’ feet with how accurately he can ping it.
Douglas Luiz can take on a deep-lying playmaker role and transition into a dangerous chance creator when higher up the pitch as an ‘8’, without any decline in his performance.
If you take the average deep-lying playmaker and move them to an ‘8’, you may see some regression in their game, as they may not be comfortable in that area of the pitch; Douglas Luiz does not face that issue.
He loves making those chip passes when transitioning forward into the ‘8’ role, playing over the top with speed to the full-back or winger.
It is a very quick, direct pass that leaves opposing teams no chance to intercept or lock down the player before he receives the ball.
Douglas Luiz Defensive Work
Because of his high work rate, there are a few instances when Douglas Luiz overcommits and overaggresses, resulting in unnecessary fouls in the press, especially higher up the pitch.
Although you want to be aggressive higher up the pitch to close down the opponent’s build-up and try to win a counterattack in their half, there is sometimes recklessness in his game, which is a negative.
In the 2024/2025 season, he averaged 2.37 fouls per 90.
It is lower this season at 1.14, but it is something to keep an eye on.
He is playing very focused at Nottingham Forest right now in terms of defensive IQ.
He is averaging the highest interception rate of his career, at 2.0 per 90.
Once he sees the opportunity to jump in, he is all in.
His defensive positioning can be inconsistent at times, as he seeks to step forward and win the ball back.
His defensive positioning is still very good, but there is some risk if he misjudges a tackle or an interception and the space opens up behind.
Below is an example of what it looks like when holding the defensive position in midfield, seeing an opportunity to step in.
How Would Douglas Luiz Fit At Chelsea?
Chelsea were looking to strengthen their midfield, and Douglas Luiz would have been a perfect fit.
He can slot in the LDM or LCM role with Moisés Caicedo in the RDM or RCM spot.
This can push Enzo Fernández higher up the pitch as the ‘8’ in a three-man midfield, while still allowing Cole Palmer to roam around in the 10 role.
Because of Douglas Luiz’s defensive capabilities, Enzo can also move higher into the ’10’ with Palmer giving Chelsea a great pairing up top while still having two strong defenders to hold against counters and provide stability.
Not to mention the interchangeable role he could play with Enzo and Caicedo, as they can all swap positions and move around.
Douglas Luiz can move higher into the ‘8’ and give Chelsea more opportunities to transition into attack at times.
How Will Douglas Luiz Fit At Aston Villa?
It’s hard to see how he will fit at Aston Villa.
Right now, Villa are playing a double pivot of Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana, with Morgan Rogers playing in the 10.
It doesn’t look like Douglas Luiz will be the first option in the starting XI, unless Rogers moves out wide and Luiz takes the 10 spot, which is very unlikely.
Although he could play a 10 role, it’s not his best fit.
The other option would be Tielemans slotting into the 10, with Rogers out wide, with Douglas Luiz and Onana playing the pivot roles side by side.
I’m not sure if Aston Villa was the right move.
He wanted to come back for familiarity, but I’m not sure, career-wise, if he’ll have a full starting role given their depth in midfield.
He will get minutes as they rotate players, but does he want to be a rotational player?
I doubt that.
Conclusion
It seems evident that Douglas Luiz’s career at Juventus is over, with relations with the club strained.
If another team can get their hands on him at a discounted price compared to a few years ago, when his signing cost would have been very high, it will be well worth the investment.
Alternatively, if he returns to Juventus, he can start over under Luciano Spalletti and re-integrate into the squad, as he still has the ability to play at the highest level.
