EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal confident of sealing Douglas Luiz signing

Arsenal are confident of sealing the signing of Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz, afcstuff understands.

The Gunners and Aston Villa are still in talks over the Brazilian, with Arsenal confident of an agreement.

afcstuff understands Aston Villa are looking for around £30m for Luiz, who has less than a year remaining of his current contract, but a deal could be done for a fee in the region of £25m.

Personal terms with the player were agreed last night, after Arsenal had beaten Aston Villa 2-1 at the Emirates.

The deal is far from done however, with the agreement between the clubs crucial if any deal is to be completed.

Arsenal have been hit with injury blows in midfield, losing both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny.

When asked about the depth, manager Mikel Arteta said:

"Obviously that has an impact because as well, Thomas is injured, we are a bit short in that position.

"We have Sambi, we have players like Granit who can play there.

"We are just looking at options in the market.”

The Spaniard has worked with Luiz before, for a short time at Manchester City.

afcstuff understands Edu Gaspar has also been crucial in talks with Luiz, which included a lengthy phone call today, with the technical director sharing a close relationship with Luiz's family.

With just hours of the transfer window remaining, Arsenal will need to act quickly to complete the signing.

You can follow updates on the Luiz deal and more, on our deadline day live blog.