Italian media make their feelings clear on Douglas Luiz after just eight games for Juventus

Italian media have already made their minds up about Douglas Luiz just eight games into his Juventus career following his summer move from Aston Villa.

Brazilian midfielder Luiz, 26, impressed during his five-year spell in the Premier League with Villa, earning him a £42m move to the Italian giants in the summer transfer window.

However, the country’s media have seemingly written him off after he gave away two penalty kicks in his last two appearances for Juve.

The midfielder has started just one game so far but has come under criticism for his poor showings, with La Gazzetta dello Sport calling him a 'flop' following Juventus' draw against Cagliari on Sunday.

Luiz has played 222 minutes across eight games so far in Italy, and manager Thiago Motta remains optimistic about his player despite the recent criticism.

“Train, work and give the best every day. That’s how you do this work. This is true for him and everyone else. Surely, there will be positive things in the future,” said Motta after the draw.

However, Juventus legend Giancarlo Marocchi was less than complimentary about the new recruit. He focused on his ‘ball carrying’ as an issue.

“Precisely because of his technical characteristics, he carries the ball a bit too much,” Marocchi told Sky Italia.

"Thiago wants to play with two-three touches at most, move the ball and change positions.

"(Khephren) Thuram's absence surprised me so far, in my opinion he is very strong. However, (Manuel) Locatelli took that starting shirt, then it was also taken away from him in the last two games. With Motta, be careful when talking about starting players, it's a moment before you end up on the bench.

Douglas Luiz has endured a poor start at Juventus (Credit:Getty)

"He loves to amaze, that's who he is: he made himself followed immediately, he was very good at this.”

Motta, who was a combative midfielder during his playing days, has opted for Thuram and Locatelli from the start in recent weeks.

The latter’s experience in Serie A following spells with AC Milan and Sassuolo may give him the advantage over Luiz at the moment.

Like Luiz, Thuram also joined Juventus this summer.

Despite never previously playing for an Italian side, he was born in the country and may find communicating with his teammates easier than Luiz as a result.