After a failed loan stint at Nottingham Forest, Douglas Luiz is hoping that a return to the club in which he had the best run of his career is the thing that gets that same career back on track.
Juventus
are hoping that’s the case, too.
Juventus announced on Wednesday that the 27-year-old Luiz has ended his loan spell at Nottingham Forest in order to join another Premier League club for the rest of the 2025-26 season. That club is Aston Villa — which just so happens to be the team that Juventus bought Luiz from two summers ago with the hopes that he would be one of the centerpieces of their revamped midfield under then-manager Thiago Motta. It didn’t work out anywhere close to they hoped, and thus the work to try and offload him began. While it didn’t work out at Forest, the hope is that changes with a return to Villa, who have an option to buy Luiz come the summertime.
The price of said option to buy? A cool €25 million plus another €3.5 million in performance-related bonuses.
Here are the official details of the deal, courtesy of Juventus’ website:
Turin, 28 January 2026 – Juventus Football Club S.p.A. (“Juventus” or the “Company”) announces that, in relation to what was already disclosed in the press release dated 21 August 2025, the player Douglas Luiz Soares de Paulo has returned from his loan.
At the same time, Juventus announces that an agreement with Aston Villa Football Club has been reached for the temporary disposal, until 30 June 2026, of the player’s registration rights, for a consideration of € 2 million.
The agreement further entails the option for Aston Villa to acquire the player’s registration rights on a permanent basis. The agreed fee for the potential definitive disposal is € 25 million, payable over three financial years; this amount may be increased, during the term of the player’s employment contract, by up to € 3.5 million upon the achievement of specific objectives.
Luiz is now officially reunited with a manager in Unai Emery who was able to get the best out of a talented Brazilian midfielder during his final season at Villa Park. It was a 2023-24 campaign in which Luiz finished with nine goals and 10 assists in all competitions, being one of the driving forces for a Villa side that qualified for the Champions League. (Which, ironically, ended up in Juventus facing Aston Villa in the first-ever UCL league phase just a few months after his move to Turin.)
Of course, Aston Villa are pushing to achieve one of their highest finishes ever in the Premier League. They currently sit third behind league leaders Arsenal and level on points with second-place Manchester City. Thus why they are seeking some January reinforcements — and Luiz just so happens to be one of those.
Or at least that’s the hope for all parties involved.
And if he plays anywhere close to how he did the last time he wore a Villa jersey, then the hope for Juventus is that option to buy looks like an decision to make and the Bianconeri have one of their biggest transfer mistakes in recent memory is then officially off the books.
