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21 August, 2025

Douglas Luiz joins from Juventus

On this day in 2025 Forest sign Douglas Luiz from Juventus on an initial loan deal.

Player legacies

Major player signing
Douglas Luiz, former Forest loanee before joining Aston Villa in 2026.
Douglas Luiz, former Forest loanee before joining Aston Villa in 2026. Image: MintyGel, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Douglas Luiz joined Forest from Juventus on a season-long loan, adding another experienced Premier League midfielder to a squad preparing for a demanding season.

The deal was structured as a €3m loan, with a conditional obligation to buy for €25m plus up to €3.5m in bonuses. That structure reflected both the ambition and the complexity of Forest’s transfer work during a busy summer.

Douglas Luiz, former Forest loanee before joining Aston Villa in 2026.
Douglas Luiz, former Forest loanee before joining Aston Villa in 2026. Image: MintyGel, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The move brought Luiz back to English football after one year in Italy. He had previously built his reputation at Aston Villa, where he became a key midfielder and helped the club qualify for the Champions League.

His Forest spell proved brief. After limited impact during the first half of the season, he returned to Aston Villa on loan in January 2026 until the end of the campaign.

For supporters, the signing showed both how much Forest’s transfer landscape had changed and how uncertain that next stage could be. A midfielder who had recently been part of a Champions League-level Aston Villa side arrived as a statement addition, but his time at the City Ground quickly became another reminder that ambitious transfers still had to work on the pitch.

First Interview

Sources

Nottingham Forest official site; Juventus; BBC Sport

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Notts County 0–2 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 3–0 Blackburn
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Vitória SC 1–1 Nottingham Forest
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Portimonense 1–2 Nottingham Forest Sporting CP 4–1 Nottingham Forest
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Udinese 1–0 Nottingham Forest Barcelona 1–0 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 2–1 Bayer Leverkusen
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Nottingham Forest 0–0 Tottenham
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Nottingham Forest 16:30 Arsenal
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Ipswich 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Hull City 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Chelsea 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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On this day in …
2025
Douglas Luiz joins from Juventus

Douglas Luiz joined Forest from Juventus on a season-long loan, adding another experienced Premier League midfielder to a squad preparing for a demanding season.…

Player legacies