“He’s one of the main reasons they are where they are, it’s not going to be easy to do this again so you need a top-quality squad and he’s part of that” – Alan Hutton on Douglas Luiz’ future

Aston Villa hopes that Juventus’ interest in signing Douglas Luiz will spark a summer bidding war at Villa Park, according to Alan Hutton.

The Brazilian is likely to leave Villa Park this summer, with Villa and Juventus close to agreeing on a swap deal involving £16.9 million, Weston McKennie, and Samuel Iling-Junior joining Unai Emery’s side, as reported by Fabrizio Romano on June 11.

Thiago Motta’s club is not the only one interested in Luiz, with Arsenal and Liverpool also considering a summer move for the 26-year-old, according to the Express on April 28.

Although a deal with Juventus seems imminent, Hutton notes that Villa remains hopeful for a higher bid, even if it comes from a Premier League rival.

“That’s what they’ll want,” Hutton exclusively told Villa News.

“Villa will want the highest value possible. Personally, I want to see him stay, I want to see the team built around him to again push for the Champions League and the top four.

“It’s going to be incredibly hard next year, it’s not going to be easy to do this again so you need a top-quality squad and he’s part of that. As I said again, he’s one of the main reasons they are where they are.

“I would get it if a huge came in, £60million or £70million and there is a bidding war and he goes to a rival you can kind of understand it, as long as your recruitment is good and Monchi is on it to get somebody in to replace him.

“You want the highest value possible.”

Most supporters will agree with Hutton’s sentiment that he doesn’t want to see Luiz leave at all this summer, but it seems like an even greater kick in the teeth that the deal is so financially poor for the Villans.

Although PSR was always going to make it tough for Emery to keep his best talent, few would have expected Luiz to leave for less than £20million, even if players were included in the deal.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal would have been expected to pay somewhere in the region of £70million as Hutton suggested which would have allowed Emery and Monchi to go out and strengthen this summer.

Hopefully, another party will enter the race for the Brazilian sooner rather than later to at least drive up the asking price before it is too late.