This week, Aston Villa bolstered their squad with the arrivals of Tammy Abraham (£6.0m) and Douglas Luiz (£4.9m).
Abraham has completed an £18.25m return to Villa Park from Besiktas.
Luiz, meanwhile, joins from Juventus for the rest of the 2025/26 season, after his loan with Nottingham Forest was terminated. The deal includes an option to buy.
We assess Abraham and Luiz’s future Fantasy appeal – or lack of it – in our Scout Report.
BRIEF HISTORY
TAMMY ABRAHAM
Abraham had a loan spell at Aston Villa in 2018/19 and contributed significantly to their promotion from the Championship, with 26 goals in 40 matches.
After returning to parent club Chelsea, who were notably serving a transfer ban at the time, Abraham seized his opportunity.
His best Fantasy season consequently arrived in 2019/20, when he netted 15 goals and provided six assists in 25 league starts and nine substitute appearances under Frank Lampard. Another eight attacking returns followed in 2020/21, but after Lampard’s departure and the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, his playing time at Chelsea diminished.
Abraham took the opportunity to move to Roma in Italy, a decision that turned out extremely well. Under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, he plundered 27 goals in his debut season, including 17 in Serie A, while the team triumphed in the UEFA Conference League.
However, Abraham later suffered a serious ACL injury, which kept him out for almost a year.
As before, a managerial switcheroo saw him fall out of favour at Roma (Mourinho > Daniele De Rossi), so a loan to AC Milan was arranged, where he recorded 10 goals and six assists in 44 matches across all competitions.
Abraham spent the first half of the 2025/26 campaign at Besiktas, where he scored 13 goals in 26 matches for the Turkish club.
DOUGLAS LUIZ
Luiz arrived at Aston Villa from Manchester City in 2019 after the club’s promotion back to the Premier League.
In his final season at Villa Park, Luiz produced nine goals and five assists.
He finished that season averaging 4.2 points per match, and notably created the most chances (53) of any Villa player, thanks in part to his prominent role on set plays.
But after leaving Villa Park for financial reasons, the Brazilian struggled to make an impact at Juventus and Nottingham Forest, starting only five Premier League games for the latter (314 mins) and providing one assist in 2025/26.
WHERE DO ABRAHAM AND LUIZ FIT IN AT VILLA…
Abraham is the direct replacement for Donyell Malen, who joined Roma earlier this month.
He’ll compete with Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) for the centre-forward role in Unai Emery’s team.
Luiz bolsters Villa’s squad in central midfield, a position where they have key injuries, with Boubacar Kamara (£4.9m) ruled out for the remainder of the season, while both Youri Tielemans (£5.9m) and John McGinn (£5.4m) are expected to be unavailable for a couple of months.
… AND WILL THEY START IN GAMEWEEK 24?
Yes, both players could ‘potentially’ start in Gameweek 24.
A start for Abraham essentially depends on Watkins’ fitness. The England international came off with hamstring discomfort in Thursday’s win over RB Salzburg.
“Watkins, we will see tomorrow. Today he had a scan, and it’s not a clear injury. He was tired yesterday, and the scan is not giving us bad information. We will see tomorrow if he’s not feeling comfortable or if he’s feeling comfortable to decide to be with us on Sunday.” – Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins
While it appears that Watkins is injury-free, he has played a lot of minutes recently, giving Emery the option to start Abraham up top.
As for Luiz, a start against Brentford feels likely. Having played the ‘Tielemans role’ before his exit, he already has a complete understanding of the position from a tactical standpoint.
Above: A potential Aston Villa XI in Gameweek 24
VILLA PENALTY LATEST
Villa haven’t been awarded a penalty in the Premier League this season, but three names have stepped up in Europe, with mixed results.
Both Watkins and Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m) missed, while the recently departed Malen successfully scored Villa’s last attempt in November.
Watkins has a woeful career record from 12 yards (scored six, missed seven).
Morgan Rogers (£7.7m), meanwhile, has minimal experience from the spot, having only scored while playing for the England U21s.
And in truth, Villa have never really filled the void since Luiz’s departure.
Notably, the Brazilian scored six penalties across all competitions in 2023/24, missing only once in Europe, so he’s a strong contender for future spot-kicks. At least at this moment, he’s probably the favourite to take the next penalty.
Abraham also has experience, having scored three times and missed once for Besiktas earlier this season. He has also taken penalties for Villa previously, as well as Roma and AC Milan in Italy.
LUIZ’S DEFCON/SET-PIECE POTENTIAL
In 2023/24, Luiz’s final season at Villa Park, the Brazilian would have hypothetically banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points in 20% of his matches.
Averaging 8.75 DefCons per 90, we can expect a similar modest output this time around, given that he previously played the ‘Tielemans role’ under Emery.
There are additional routes to points, too.
In addition to penalties in 2023/24, Luiz also assumed a prominent role at set-plays. He took 100 of Villa’s 231 corners that season, the most of any teammate, as well as taking some direct and indirect free-kicks.
He even scored directly from corners, with his in-swinging deliveries posing a considerable threat.
If Luiz is thrown straight in, it is worth noting that Matty Cash (£4.8m) may not take quite as many corners in the upcoming weeks, which is something to monitor.
THOUGHTS
Abraham may need a bit of time to adjust tactically to Emery’s demands.
But even once up to speed, he will likely share minutes with Watkins, who you’d think will remain first choice for now, albeit with earlier substitutions than before.
Should Abraham get regular starts under Emery, he could be an excellent pick at just £6.0m, but in all likelihood, it will take an injury to Watkins for him to become a viable option, or for him to demonstrate an exceptional run of form.
Luiz’s adaptation should be quicker.
If he takes penalties, he could be a nice budget enabler at only £4.9m, particularly with likely set-pieces in his locker, as well as his ability to occasionally bank DefCon points.
However, given his injury issues since leaving Villa, Luiz might not be a guaranteed starter in every match. Ross Barkley (£4.8m) is expected to return to the matchday squad on Sunday, and you’d expect him to share the load with Luiz until Tielemans returns in a couple of months.
For now, it’s probably best to monitor whether a) either player starts in Gameweek 24 and b) how sharp they look.
The upcoming fixtures for Villa should at least give their new arrivals the opportunity to hit the ground running.
