Manchester City have a decision to make over Douglas Luiz.
The Brazilian joined City from Vasco da Gama in 2017, but was sold to Villa after two years out on loan with Girona.
Luiz has excelled over the last year, really kicking on to become one of the most underrated holding midfielders in the Premier League.
At 22, Luiz has bags of potential ahead of him, and City have a buy-back clause in the deal that sent him to Villa Park.
That means City can lure Luiz back to the club this summer, with The Athletic claiming that City have until June 5th to activate the clause in a deal worth around £27.5million.
City have decisions to make on a number of players in similar situations; players returning from loans, players with buy-back options.
Guardiola has now told The Sun that now isn’t the time to think about re-signing Luiz, but City will make their decision after the Champions League is over.
“There are a lot of people at the club working about these kind of players and at the end of the season we are going to take a decision,” said Guardiola. “I have many things in my head for these five or six weeks. All of us have. We’ve fought a lot to be here, to be in the Champions League semi final for only the second time,” he added.
This may ultimately hinge on the future of Luiz’s compatriot and fellow midfield anchor man Fernandinho.
The 35-year-old is out of contract this summer, and it’s still unclear just which way his future will go given that he is an important dressing room character but is soon turning 36.
If Fernandinho leaves, Luiz would make some sense for City as a natural replacement – and the timing of Fernandinho’s contract expiring and City’s final chance to buy back Luiz suggests it’s all been lined up intentionally.
