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Arsenal set to acquire David Luiz from Chelsea

By Ernesto Hernandez

MOENCHENGLADBACH, GERMANY - AUGUST 03: David Luiz of FC Chelsea looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Chelsea at Borussia-Park on August 3, 2019 in Moenchengladbach, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
MOENCHENGLADBACH, GERMANY - AUGUST 03: David Luiz of FC Chelsea looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Chelsea at Borussia-Park on August 3, 2019 in Moenchengladbach, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal on the verge of finally reinforcing their back-line by signing David Luiz from Chelsea.

Heading into the off-season, Arsenal knew that if they wanted to compete for Champions League places, then the club needed reinforcements in their defense. Their back-line was arguably their weak point last season and has been for a while given how injury prone it has been and it appears that they are close to doing just that.

According to The Guardian, Arsenal are said to be close to acquiring David Luiz from Chelsea. The Brazilian trained separately from the rest of the Chelsea recently because he was trying to force a move to the Gunners. Despite recently signing a new contract, Luiz favored a move because he was not guaranteed a starting spot under Frank Lampard.

David Ornstein reports that Arsenal agreed to pay Chelsea £8 million for the 32-year old and that he will sign a two-year contract. In addition, he also states the club is close to completing a £25 million, five-year deal for Celtic left-back, Kieran Tierney.

The fee for Luiz may appear small but age surely played a part in it. Regardless, Luiz and Tierney are significant upgrades. Luiz replaces captain Laurent Koscielny who, coincidentally, sat out the club’s US tour in order to force a move back to France. Tierney offers Arsenal another option at left-back which had been manned by Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolašinac.

For Chelsea, it is a bit of a head-scratching move solely for the fact that they cannot replace given they are under a transfer ban where they cannot register new players. With him gone, their options at center-back decrease with someone needing to accompany Antonio Rudiger who, if you were filling out a line-up, is the first name put in for their defense.

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Some may question the move for Arsenal and despite his deficiencies, Luiz is an upgrade over the players they had back there. They upgraded ahead of the defense with the likes of Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe and even though they could probably do with another defender, Arsenal are in good position to get back into the top four and qualify for Champions League.

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