Arsenal see first Luiz offer rejected as Edu works on two agreements

Arsenal have had a £20million bid for Douglas Luiz turned down by Aston Villa, according to reports. Gunners technical director Edu is hoping to strike an agreement with both Villa and Luiz before tonight’s 11pm deadline.

Mikel Arteta wants to sign a midfielder following injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny.

Arteta admitted he is short in the middle of the park, with Martin Odegaard also suffering a knock in the win over Villa on Wednesday.

Arsenal’s interest in Luiz dates back to earlier this year. The 24-year-old has entered the final year of his contract and therefore could be available in a cut-price deal.

But Villa are not making it easy for their Premier League counterparts. 90min claims Villa have rejected an offer of £20m plus add-ons for Luiz.

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Gerrard said: “I’m not in control of that. There’s two people, well, there’s more than two people who are in control of that, but I’m certainly not one of them.

“That will be Douglas, that will be his agent and that will be what happens around that.

“I’d like to keep him, he’s a fantastic player, I’ve made that abundantly clear.

“We are not in position where we need to lose our top players, but at the same time Douglas has a year to go and it is one of them really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, not necessarily what is best for me.”