Former Aston Villa star labelled a ‘disaster’ at new club with his form ‘unwatchable’

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Swap deals always spark debate about who got the better of the arrangement, and things are no different when it came to the deal Aston Villa struck over the summer.

Who will come out on top in the agreement which took Douglas Luiz to Juventus, with Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea moving in the other direction?

From an Aston Villa perspective, an answer will not become clear for some time.

Iling-Junior and Barrenechea will both have to wait before they can really make their mark in claret and blue, the former returning to Italy with a loan spell at Bologna and the former joining Valencia for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign.

As for Douglas Luiz, however, a narrative is already being written. One that the Brazil international may struggle to turn around, with that ‘Flop’ tag a difficult one to shake.

Douglas Luiz is struggling at Juventus after Aston Villa exit

The Italian thought they had solved their long-running midfield issues when Juventus completed a £42 million deal for a Douglas Luiz.

A player who, under Unai Emery, had evolved into one of the most complete, all-around footballers in the Premier League.

But as Thiago Motta’s Juve were held to a draw for the fourth time in their last five Serie A matches at home to Cagliari, patience is already running low towards a player the Bianconeri boss already finds himself having to defend in the media.

“You can’t focus on one player or another,” Motta told reporters at full-time. “We win together, we draw together and we lose together.

“Douglas Luiz has all my confidence, like everyone else.”

Motta’s ‘confidence’, however, clearly isn’t shared by everyone in Italy.

Reporter Fabio Ravezzani took to social media to describe Douglas Luiz’s performance as ‘unwatchable’. Tuttomercatoweb included the one-time Manchester City youngster in their Flop of the Week XI.

Former Italy international Giancarlo Marocchi, meanwhile, wonders if Thiago Motta and Douglas Luiz is a marriage destined to fail unless the latter can adapt his game to the coach’s free-flowing tactics.

“Precisely because of his technical characteristics, [Douglas Luiz] carries the ball a bit too much,” Marocchi tells Sky Italia, wondering if fellow newbie Khephren Thuram may soon have the former Villa ace fearing for his starting spot.

“Thiago wants to play with two-three touches at most, move the ball and change positions. Thuram’s absence surprised me so far. In my, opinion he is very strong.”

Douglas Luiz labelled a ‘disaster’ as Villa rebuild midfield

Thanks largely to the excellence of Amadou Onana, Aston Villa do not look like a team missing Douglas Luiz particularly keenly.

Ross Barkley has made a bright start to life back in claret and blue as well, while Boubacar Kamara stepped up his return after a long injury absence as he played 45 minutes in an Under-21 clash with Newcastle United on Saturday.

The positivity surrounding Aston Villa’s midfield options is certainly in stark contrast to the narrative surrounding Juventus’ at present.

“It was the worst Juventus [performance] of the season, especially in the second half,” Serie A expert Paolo de Paola tells Tuttomercatoweb. “Against Cagliari I saw a team of ancient memory. Not very compact.

“I don’t understand what [Teun] Koopmeiners is doing, from whom I expect more, not to mention the disaster of Douglas Luiz.”