![]() Luiz playing for Aston Villa in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Douglas Luiz Soares de Paulo [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | [2] | 9 May 1998||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Nottingham Forest (on loan from Juventus) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2013–2016 | Vasco da Gama | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2016–2017 | Vasco da Gama | 35 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2019 | Manchester City | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2019 | → Girona (loan) | 38 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2019–2024 | Aston Villa | 175 | (20) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2024– | Juventus | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2025– | → Nottingham Forest (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2016–2017 | Brazil U20 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2019–2021 | Brazil U23 | 13 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2019– | Brazil | 18 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:38, 18 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 03:51, 7 July 2024 (UTC) |
Douglas Luiz Soares de Paulo (born 9 May 1998), known as Douglas Luiz, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Nottingham Forest, on loan from Serie A club Juventus, and the Brazil national team.
Douglas Luiz is a product of the Vasco da Gama academy; he was signed by Manchester City in 2017, but never played a competitive match during his time at the club, due to work permit difficulties, and was subsequently loaned out to La Liga side Girona twice. Aston Villa signed Luiz in July 2019 where he spent five seasons, ultimately helping the side qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over 40 years in 2024; he subsequently signed for Juventus. He is an Olympic champion, winning gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football final.
Luiz was born in Rio de Janeiro and joined Vasco da Gama's youth setup in 2013, aged 14, after being approved in a number of tests held in Itaguaí. [3] In July 2016, he was promoted to the first team by manager Jorginho due to Marcelo Mattos' injury. [4]
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 for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B championship. [5] In his first start three days later, he scored his team's only goal in a 2–1 loss at Vila Nova. [6]
Luiz remained a starter for the Cruz-maltino until the end of the year, as his side achieved promotion to Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. In the meantime, he also extended his contract until 2019, on 26 September 2016. [7]
Luiz made his debut in the main category of Brazilian football on 14 May 2017, starting in a 4–0 away loss against Palmeiras. 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.[ citation needed ]
Luiz completed a move to Manchester City on 15 July 2017, signing a five-year contract. [8]
On 1 August, he was loaned to La Liga side Girona FC for his first season with the club. [9] Luiz made his debut for the Catalans on 26 August 2017, replacing Portu in a 1–0 home win against Málaga CF. [10]
On 31 August 2018, Luiz was again loaned to Girona due to the UK Home Office denying him a work permit. [11]
Luiz signed for Aston Villa on 25 July 2019, subject to a work permit. [12] His work permit was granted, and he officially became a Villa player on 7 August. [13] On 17 August, Luiz scored his first goal for Villa against AFC Bournemouth in a 2–1 loss. [14] In August 2022, Luiz scored directly from a corner in the third round of the 2022–23 EFL Cup against Bolton Wanderers, and repeated the feat the following week in a Premier League fixture against Arsenal. [15]
In October 2022, after rumoured transfer interest from Arsenal, following the end of the transfer window - Luiz agreed a new "long-term" contract with Aston Villa. [16] On 23 May 2023, Luiz was voted both Supporter's Player of the Season and Player's Player of the Season at the club's end of season awards. [17] In the 2023–24 season, he managed to record ten goals and ten assists in 53 appearances in all competitions. [18]
On 30 June 2024, Luiz joined Serie A side Juventus for a €50 million fee, plus €1.5 million in add-ons, signing a five-year contract with the Italian club. [19] [20] As part of a separate transaction, Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea joined Aston Villa on permanent deals. [21] [22] The transfer was in part attributed to Aston Villa's need to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which forced them to sell one of their key players. [20] His debut for the club came in a 3–0 victory over Como on 19 August 2024. [23] A month later, on 17 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 3–1 victory over PSV Eindhoven. [24]
On 21 August 2025, Luiz joined Premier League side Nottingham Forest on loan for the remainder of the season with a conditional obligation to make the deal permanent. [25]
Luiz appeared for Brazil at the youth level at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship and the 2019 Toulon Tournament, winning the latter.[ citation needed ]
On 19 November 2019, he made his senior international debut in a friendly match against South Korea, which Brazil won 3–0. [26]
On 9 June 2021, Luiz was named to the Brazil squad for the 2021 Copa América. [27] Brazil finished the tournament as runners-up to Argentina. [28]
On 7 August 2021, Luiz won a gold medal as part of the Brazil football team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. [29]
Luiz was called up for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Colombia and Argentina on 16 and 21 November 2023, respectively. [30]
In June 2024, Luiz was called up for the 2024 Copa America. [31]
From 2021 to 2022, Luiz was in a relationship with Swiss forward Alisha Lehmann while they were both with Aston Villa; they reunited in 2024. [32]
Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Vasco da Gama | 2016 | Série B | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | ||
2017 | Série A | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 10 [c] | 2 | 24 | 3 | |||
Total | 25 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 2 | 39 | 5 | ||||
Girona (loan) | 2017–18 | La Liga | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
2018–19 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 29 | 0 | |||||
Total | 38 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 46 | 0 | |||||
Aston Villa | 2019–20 | Premier League | 36 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 3 | ||
2020–21 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 0 | ||||
2021–22 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 2 | ||||
2022–23 | 37 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 40 | 7 | ||||
2023–24 | 35 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 [d] | 1 | — | 53 | 10 | |||
Total | 175 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 14 | 1 | — | 204 | 22 | |||
Juventus | 2024–25 | Serie A | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 [e] | 0 | 2 [f] | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
Nottingham Forest (loan) | 2025–26 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
Career total | 257 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 316 | 27 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Brazil | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
2020 | 4 | 0 | |
2021 | 4 | 0 | |
2022 | 0 | 0 | |
2023 | 2 | 0 | |
2024 | 7 | 0 | |
Total | 18 | 0 |
Aston Villa
Brazil U23
Brazil
Individual