How Douglas Luiz Nottingham Forest Transfer Opens Brighton Exit Door For Matt O’Riley

Douglas Luiz is closing in on a move to Nottingham Forest with just the finer details to be agreed.

That is according to transfer king Fabrizio Romano who reports that Luiz only wanted a move to the City Ground the moment it became a realistic proposition.

Former Aston Villa midfielder Luiz, 27, made 27 appearances for Juventus last season but he was without any goals or assists and the manager, Igor Tudor, has been open to a sale.

Luiz has already agreed terms on a contract to join Forest and it remains only an agreement on fee and add-on clauses that remain to be ironed out between clubs.

Douglas Luiz Nottingham Forest move frees Juventus to sign Matt O’Riley

Reports claim Forest president, Evangelos Marinakis, became involved in the deal personally in an effort to speed up the process and that insert has helped the move progress.

Nuno Espirito Santo has wanted Luiz for some time and the club, following last season’s excellent campaign, moved quickly to bring the manager his desired target.

Luiz has had a strong career in the Premier League having made 175 appearances for Villa during his five years there – having made none for Manchester City before then – from his 204 total outings in all competitions.

The interesting element of Luiz’s deal finally set to come to fruition is the one domino it is likely to push over for another player at a different EPL outfit.

Juventus have been very interested in bringing Matt O’Riley to Turin and reportedly slapped in a £30million bid to take the Danish international to Italy.

What O’Riley thinks about Juve transfer from Brighton

O’Riley previously had suitors at Atalanta before he made the move to the Amex to join the Seagulls but it has not quite worked out for the 24-year-old yet having suffered a disappointing injury early in his career.

The player made his debut in the Carabao Cup against Crawley Town and was crocked after a dreadful challenge and that has hampered him since.

Now beginning to find his feet, though, O’Riley scored in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Fulham.

But he could now be on the way out of the club with Juve able to do business considering Luiz is desperately close to his move.

The transfer fee for Brazilian Luiz is not yet known but it won’t be a small number considering he remains under contract at Juve until 2029.

Forest have already spent massive numbers this summer window on big players such as Omari Hutchison, Dan Ndoye, James McAtee, Igor Jesus and Arnaud Kalimuendo.

Jair Cunha was a cheaper signing than his new teammates while goalkeeper Angus Gunn was a free transfer.