Douglas Luiz, Aston Villa’s European Cup legend, is now fit to fill his boots.
BirminghamLive brings you the latest Aston Villa news, including a comparison of the club’s two-goal hero from the win against West Ham to perhaps the club’s best midfielder Dennis Mortimer.
There are few greater praises for an Aston Villa player, especially one who works in the midfield engine room, than being compared to club legend Dennis Mortimer.
Mortimer was born in Liverpool, but he will always be identified with the Villa for his exquisite performances that resulted in league victory in 1980/81 and European Cup success the following season.
Long before John Terry arrived at Villa Park in the twilight of another brilliant career, although with a different club, he was the original captain, leader, and icon. Mortimer, who is now 71 years old, has never won a full England cap.
And, in the ensuing years of relegation, promotion, and false dawns in B6, Villa have desperately needed another Mortimer. But, at long last, it appears that the great man has been reincarnated.
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Villa have been lauded recently for a fantastic run of home success under Unai Emery, which has seen them win 11 games in a row, culminating in Sunday’s 4-1 demolition of West Ham.
Douglas Luiz, the 25-year-old Brazilian who is quickly becoming the throbbing heart of a club touted for greatness by a slew of seasoned observers, scored twice for the Villa that day.
Former Villa player Paul Merson recently wrote in his Sky Sports column, “Douglas Luiz is the most underrated player in the Premier League.” Nobody mentions him. He consistently performs for Aston Villa. He plays box to box, scores goals, and passes the ball exceptionally effectively. He’s just a great player.”
In reality, he’s already scored five goals for Villa this season, including a brace against the Hammers, as well as goals against Brighton (6-1), Crystal Palace (3-1), and Everton (4-0) at Villa Park.
Luiz joined Villa in 2019, having been recruited from Manchester City by Dean Smith to help reinforce his squad following promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.
And it has to be acknowledged that, despite interest from Arsenal and predictions he could be enticed back to the Etihad by Pep Guardiola, Luiz has taken his time to develop into the player everyone expected from the Rio native.
The introduction of Emery as head coach at the club has been the impetus for Luiz’s change, which is ironic given his former team’s interest in the player.
And, while his impact on the club is clear, it was only this week that Luiz received the ultimate compliment for a Villa midfielder: compared to the great Dennis Mortimer.
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