Steven Gerrard has only been Aston Villa manager for two weeks, and after a monumental first win in five for Aston Villa, the former Liverpool captain could be on course for his first nightmare in the job.

What’s the word?

Roma and Jose Mourinho are reportedly interested in popular Aston Villa midfielder, Douglas Luiz.

According to Il Romanista via Sports Witness, the Roma director wants to give Mourinho a new midfielder in the January transfer window, and Luiz is at the top of the former Chelsea manager’s list.

The reporter states that Roma have “quite a lot of interest” in the 26-year-old Brazilian.

The Italian publication claims that Aston Villa have valued Douglas Luiz at £35m and there will be no room for negotiation on this price, something that could put off the move, or delay their interest until the Summer of 2022.

As per the report, it states that Douglas ‘wants to leave’ and the Aston Villa stars agent is expected to go to Europe next month to ‘collect offers’ for the player, to then take back and ‘negotiate the sale’ with Villa ‘for the highest bidder’.

Disaster or blessing in disguise?

If the Midlands club were to lose the midfield enforcer in the upcoming window, it would be nothing short of a disaster. After all, he is their highest rated player in the top-flight this term according to WhoScored.

It’s clear to see why, too, with the 23-year-old rated third for most tackles per game in Gerrard’s squad, second for interceptions and first for key passes with 1.6 per outing.

Furthermore, Aston Villa journalist, Gregg Evans, gave praise to the £31.5m-rated gem recently, sharing a rave review that demonstrates why losing him in January would be somewhat of a disaster.

The reporter said: “He’s an absolute joy to watch now and I never thought I would be saying that. Villa have got a fantastic player in Douglas Luiz now, he looks like an absolute star, he could have played in that Man United team.”

Douglas Luiz has just returned from injury and hasn’t yet played under Gerrard, however, the new manager managed to register an important win for the Villans without him.

That said, he will be absolutely imperative to their plans going forward so they cannot afford to move him on if they want to guarantee their safety.

Although losing the player would be frustrating for the manager and the club, if the reports are true that the player wants to leave, you can only keep him for so long, and in most cases, it can be more profitable to strike whilst the iron is hot, and when the player is in their most attractive form to other clubs.

If Aston Villa were subjected to the drop, Luiz’s valuation would plummet with it and Gerrard may need to sell him at a cut price. If Villa can get £35m or more for the Brazilian midfielder, they should go for it and reinvest in a player who envisions a future with Villa and commits to the club.

However, if they don’t, Christian Purslow and co will be looking at the first major howler of their new era post-Dean Smith.

In other news: Dean Smith could boost Villa’s funds for the transfer window