Arsenal will look to reinforce their midfield ranks in the January transfer window, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The transfer insider, writing on X, says the Gunners remain keen on Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz, a player they have pursued before.

Speculation linking Arsenal and Luiz has once again been mounting ahead of the January transfer window.

For instance, just a few weeks ago, 90Min reported that Gunners duo Edu Gaspar and Mikel Arteta are huge admirers of the Villa midfielder.

Now, Romano - one of the most trusted sources out there when it comes to football transfer talk - has linked Arsenal and Luiz ahead of the upcoming window.

"Arsenal are gonna look again into the midfielders market in January after Thomas injury," Romano wrote on X.

"Understand Douglas Luiz remains the fav option in #AFC list since long time.

"Arsenal love him but ambitious #AVFC want to keep Douglas. Not easy."

Arsenal will struggle to sign Luiz in January - TBR View Romano is right to play this down. As much as Arsenal like Luiz, and as good as he is, the chances of him switching clubs mid-season is very slim.

Obviously it's not impossible, but let's face it - Villa are a Premier League club doing well in Europe and currently sit just two points below the top four.

They've got a solid manager in Unai Emery and made some outstanding signings this summer that wouldn't have looked out of place in a top four team.

The likes of Pau Torres, Nicolo Zaniolo, Youri Tielemans and Moussa Diaby were all being linked with the sort of clubs that challenge for titles and compete in the Champions League.

What I'm saying is, why would Villa do all that, only to then sell one of their top players mid-season and risk sabotaging their campaign, when they can just wait until the summer?

Besides, after the PS15million man signed fresh terms with Villa just last year, the Gunners would have to pay a huge sum if they want to sign him, whether in January or in summer.