Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard insists he has no plans to lose Douglas Luiz this month.

The Brazil midfielder is being linked with Arsenal.

"No, we haven't opened contract talks yet with Douglas," Gerrard confirmed. "I think in this period and in this window, it has been the case of trying to strengthen the current squad, make additions and, also, find destinations for some of our younger players in terms of loans.

"Dougie has done OK for us. We've been happy with his training level and the performances that he has given.

"We still think that there's room for him to get better and improve. You know, he had a bit of an injury when we first arrived and we still think there's another gear or two for Dougie to go into.

"He's doing us a job as a No.6 at the moment. We know that he maybe prefers to play a bit more advanced but he's helped us out an awful lot on the back of Nakamba's injury.

"We rate the player extremely high and we're hoping from now until the end of the season, he can really perform at his best and help the team moving forward."