One of the deals that we’ve been waiting all summer to happen has, indeed, finally been agreed upon.
According reports from just about everybody of note in Italy and England on Wednesday, Juventus and Nottingham Forest have agreed to their much-talked about deal for Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz. Juventus will receive a fee of at least €30 million from Forest for Luiz — much less than the €50 million price tag he had last summer when he was signed from Aston Villa. According to The Athletic, it
will be a loan with option to buy formula, with said obligation to buy kicking in based on a certain number of appearances, with David Ornstein adding that Forest will also have the option to buy Luiz if he doesn’t hit that certain number of appearances needed.
Luiz will reportedly earn €5 million a season at Nottingham Forest, which is the same salary that he earned during his one season at Juventus. He is expected to undergo his medical exams at some point on Thursday.
The want-away 27-year-old who has been expected to leave for months now, and he only tried to accelerate that move away from Turin when he showed up late for preseason training last month. And now nearly a full month later, he finally got his move back to the Premier League — something that he has sought all along.
Juventus have always wanted to try and recoup as much of their fee from last summer as possible, insisting that they would only agree to a deal that ultimately sees Luiz leave the club on a permanent basis either this summer or next. The Athletic have previously reported that Manchester City wanted Luiz on loan during the January transfer window, but Juve were only willing to sell him or have it be under the same conditions in which he is moving to Forest on loan with an obligation to buy.
The likes of City and the other big Premier League clubs never truly came calling for Luiz this summer, with mostly mid-table sides those who were competing with Forest to bring him back to England. Forest will be taking part in the Europa League this season, their first European competition in three decades.
During his time at Juventus, Luiz made a grand total of 27 total appearances. He made just six starts, played less than 1,000 minutes and didn’t record a single goal or assist over that span.
