Yahoo News Aston Villa 'set' to move for Brazilian penalty save king from Portugal's Liga
Aston Villa have been linked with interest in highly-rated Brazilian goalkeeper Luiz Junior who has built quite a reputation for himself in Portugal.
The 23-year-old is the stopper with the most penalty saves in the Portuguese top flight in the last ten years, and now Villa are reported to be ‘set’ to make an attempt to sign the Famalicão player, presumably to add competition for first choice Emiliano Martinez and understudy Robin Olsen. Villa also have another 23-year-old, Joe Gauci, who only joined in the last transfer window from the Australian A-League.
Newspaper O Jogo today writes that after “showing interest” in the player, that the English Premier League club will ‘present a proposal’ for him next week. The outlet also claims that the Midlands club are ready to ‘open the purse strings’ to get the signing done, and the deal can reach as much as €12m (just over £10m).
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O Jogo, however, don’t say whether that would be enough and stress that no formal offers have been made to the Portuguese club so far.
Luiz Júnior left Mirassol for Famalicão back in 2020, initially joining the club’s U-23 squad before making his way into the first team. This season he made 35 appearances for the club, with 44 goals conceded and eight clean sheets. His contract there runs until 2027.
A Bola highlights his qualities, claiming he ‘stands out’ with many skills, and became the goalkeeper with the most penalties saved in the last ten seasons in Liga Portugal.