Aston Villa in 'advanced talks' with Serie A giants as Chelsea 'prepare to announce' transfer

Aston Villa will already be working hard to land transfer targets as they look to make the step up to the Champions League. Unai Emery will not be content with solely qualifying for UEFA’s biggest competition, given his pedigree in Europe, but the competition takes no prisoners, as Newcastle United found out last season.

Villa are going to need to strengthen their squad while managing FFP issues amid increased spending over recent years. As club chiefs look to do just that, we have rounded up all the latest news surrounding Villa Park.

Duran move advances

Jhon Duran looks set to leave Villa to join Chelsea, with reports emerging earlier this week claiming that a £40million deal had been reached. Now, according to Football Insider, a deal could be announced as early as next week after an ‘agreement in principle’ was reached between the two clubs.

The deal will help Villa come in line with Profit and Sustainability rules, and it’s reported they need to strike a deal before the end of the month to meet the deadline. It looks likely that deadline will be reached providing the £40million is enough to bring the club in line.

Luiz deal nears

Villa and Juventus are said to have reached an advanced stage in their negotiations involving midfielder Douglas Luiz. Luiz is set to make the switch to Serie A this summer despite being a crucial part of Emery’s side.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, talks have now progressed to an advanced stage, and it looks likely a deal will be struck for the Brazilian. In a rare swap deal, it looks as though Samuel Iling-Junior, Weston McKennie and some cash will head to Villa Park in exchange for Luiz.

Speaking to Sky Sports about Luiz back in April, Emery said: "He is a player who has always had a good instinct to get into the box. He is scoring goals because his instinct is very good. He is feeling comfortable getting into the opposition box when we are in the attacking third."

The Villa boss added: "The second most important thing is him because now he is very focused on football. When I got here, he was playing, more or less, but he was not playing consistently in the starting eleven. When we arrived, I think progressively with us, he is getting better with his mentality."

Luiz move questioned

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has questioned why Douglas Luiz wants to leave Villa for Juventus this summer. “Douglas Luiz has been one of the best players at Villa since he arrived through the door,” Goodman told Villa News. “In terms of him wanting a move away, well, why?

“He’s been part of a really successful side and is now guaranteed to play in the Champions League, while also playing regularly in the best league in the world. With respect, I’m not sure why he would be thinking of moving to Serie A with Juventus. I wouldn’t be doing that if I was him, but I’m not him. Maybe there’s an element of some players coming from far reaches of the world having a different mentality in terms of leaving clubs, wanting to join this team and that team.”