Douglas Luiz Soares de Paulo (born 9 May 1998), known as Douglas Luiz, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and the Brazil national team. Douglas Luiz is a product of the

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

academy in Rio de Janeiro. He was signed at the age of 19 by

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 2017, but never played a competitive match during his time at the club due to work permit difficulties, being loaned out to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

twice. Aston Villa signed Luiz in July 2019. He is an Olympic champion, winning gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics Men's Football Final.

Club career

Vasco da Gama

Douglas Luiz was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and joined

's youth setup in 2013, aged 14, after being approved in a number of tests held in

Itaguaí Itaguaí () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro and contains several important iron ore loading ports of the world including Ilha Guaiba. Its population was 134,819 in 2020 and its area is 273 km2. The city wa ...

. In July 2016, he was promoted to the first team by manager Jorginho due to

Marcelo Mattos Marcelo de Mattos Terra or simply Marcelo Mattos (born 10 February 1984 in Indiaporã, São Paulo) is a Brazilian football defensive midfielder who plays for Bangu. He is known for his positioning, tight marking of the opposing player and th ...

' injury. Douglas Luiz made his first team debut on 27 August 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute for Fellype Gabriel in a 2–2 away draw against

Tupi Tupi may refer to: * Tupi people of Brazil * Tupi or Tupian languages, spoken in South America ** Tupi language, an extinct Tupian language spoken by the Tupi people * Tupi oil field off the coast of Brazil * Tupi Paulista, a Brazilian municipalit ...

for the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B is commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B (Série B), and until 2022 was officially called Brasileirão Sportingbet by sponsorship reasons. It is the second tier of the Brazilian football league system ...

championship. In his first start three days later, he scored his team's only goal in a 2–1 loss at Vila Nova. Douglas Luiz remained a starter for the ''Cruz-maltino'' until the end of the year, as his side achieved promotion to

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

. In the meantime, he also extended his contract until 2019 on 26 September 2016. Douglas Luiz made his debut in the main category of Brazilian football on 14 May 2017, starting in a 4–0 away loss against

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

. His first goal in the division occurred on 10 June, as he netted his team's second in a 2–1 home win against

Sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

Manchester City

Douglas Luiz completed a move to

on 15 July 2017, signing a five-year contract. On 1 August, he was loaned to

side

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

for his first season with the club. Douglas Luiz made his debut for the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan language, Catalan, French language, French and Occitan language, Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian language, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance languages, Romance ethnic group native to Cataloni ...

on 26 August 2017, replacing

Portu Cristian Portugués Manzanera (; born 21 May 1992), commonly known as Portu (), is a Spanish professional association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Getafe CF, Getafe on loan from Real Sociedad. Club career Valenc ...

in a 1–0 home win against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

. On 31 August 2018, Douglas Luiz was again loaned to Girona due to the UK Home Office denying him a work permit.

Aston Villa

Douglas Luiz signed for

on 25 July 2019, subject to a work permit. His work permit was granted and he officially became an Aston Villa player on 7 August. On 17 August, Douglas Luiz scored his first goal for

against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

; Villa would eventually lose the game 2–1. In August 2022, Luiz scored directly from a corner in the third round of the 2022–23 EFL Cup, and repeated the feat the following week in a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

fixture against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. In October 2022, in the midst of rumoured transfer interest from Arsenal and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

- Luiz signed a new "long-term" contract with Aston Villa.

International career

Douglas Luiz appeared for Brazil at youth level at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship and the

2019 Toulon Tournament The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England w ...

, winning the latter. On 19 November 2019, he made his senior international debut in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, which

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

won 3–0. On 9 June 2021, Douglas Luiz was named in the Brazil squad for the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to 10 July 2021. The tour ...

. Brazil finished the tournament as runners-up to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. On 7 August 2021, Luiz won a gold medal as part of the Brazil football team at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Personal life

Douglas was in a relationship with Aston Villa Women midfielder Alisha Lehmann.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Aston Villa *

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

runner-up: 2019–20 Brazil U23 * Olympics Gold Medal:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Brazil *

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

runner-up:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

Team of the Year:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Best Player:

Best XI:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luiz, Douglas 1998 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players La Liga players CR Vasco da Gama players Manchester City F.C. players Girona FC players Aston Villa F.C. players Brazil youth international footballers Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil international footballers Olympic footballers of Brazil 2021 Copa América players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Premier League players Olympic medalists in football Olympic gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics