Aston Villa have no intention of selling Arsenal target Douglas Luiz and are instead planning contract talks the midfielder, 90min understands.
Luiz’s agents have been informed by Villa’s hierarchy that they are ready to open negotiations over a new long-term deal.
The Villans have been had approaches from a couple of Premier League rivals about Luiz – including from the Gunners – but the Midlands club made it clear he was not available.
Luiz has been a key performer since new manager Steven Gerrard took the reins, and the coach has made it clear he does not want to lose the Brazil international.
Luiz has settled in very well since his £15m move from Manchester City in 2019. The Cityzens were loathe to lose him, but had no choice as they could not attain a work permit for the player, such were the rules at the time.
City have shown an interest in bringing him back, while Arsenal have recently enquired, but Luiz is ready to commit to Villa as he is happy with life in Birmingham.
Luiz has established himself as a regular in the Brazil squad since making the move and Villa boss Gerrard is keen to keep him.
“Douglas is a fantastic player, really talented and we rate him extremely high,” Gerrard confirmed when asked about the Brazilian at the weekend.
“We want to keep all of our best players around. We understand there will be interest in our best players as well, we don’t have a problem with that.
“But yes, we want to keep all of our top talent around, we see Douglas as a top talent, a really wonderful footballer on his day. It’s my job to try to make this team and this squad as strong as it can be, littered with top footballers.”