The truth about Douglas Luiz’s Man City transfer clause after Aston Villa’s £50m move

Manchester City could earn some extra money this summer thanks to one of their former players.

Pep Guardiola and Co will likely already have their plans in place for the summer transfer window ahead of the new Premier League campaign. The window officially opens on Friday, after which City will be able to agree deals for new signings to arrive at the Etihad Stadium.

It remains to be seen what budget City will have to work with this summer for new signings. However, it appears that a previous deal which has seen a player leave the Etihad in the past could prove to boost Guardiola’s transfer kitty this summer.

Douglas Luiz left City to join Aston Villa in 2019 in a £15m deal. Since then, he has become a key midfielder for the Midlands club, including helping Villa qualify for the Champions League.

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Arsenal have been heavily linked with a move for Luiz this summer in recent days, with Villa eyeing around £50million for the midfielder. The Brazilian has previous experience of working with Mikel Arteta during his time as assistant coach at City to Guardiola.

City included a buy-back clause in Luiz’s Villa contract, but it expired in 2021 after the first two seasons of his time at Villa Park. Reports from The Athletic claimed in 2022 that City had also included a sell-on clause in the transfer.

It was not specified what percentage of the future transfer fee City would be entitled to if Luiz were to leave Villa. It appears, however, that if the midfielder were to complete a £50million move to a new club, some of that money would go to City.

Luiz did not make a single first team appearance for City due to the inability to obtain a visa to play for the club. He spent two seasons on loan at Girona before leaving City for good to join Villa, where he blossomed into one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.