David Luiz’s future at Arsenal in doubt after contract delays
The Brazilian defender only joined Arsenal from Chelsea this past season.
Arsenal may be getting ready to move on from David Luiz as talks on a contract extension have hit a snag.
According to The Guardian, Arsenal had the option of extending Luiz’s deal by an extra 12 months when his contract expired. An option that only became known recently as it was thought he signed a two-year deal when he joined the club.
Luiz was brought in under former manager Unai Emery as a defender who was comfortable playing out from the back and someone who brought experience to a much-maligned Arsenal defense.
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But he’s had an inconsistent season making too many mistakes and taken a brunt of the criticism from supporters. The skepticism and critiques of his play when he first joined were on display more than a handful of times.
According to ESPN, new manager Mikel Arteta wants to keep Luiz and that, as far as his future is concerned, “the club want to stress no final decision decision has been taken but allowing Luiz’s deal to run this close to expiry is an indication of the financial pressures Arsenal were working under even before the coronavirus pandemic.”
It seems that the financial state of the club is one of the reasons they are going to let his contract run down and that their situation was exacerbated by the pandemic. Still, it doesn’t come across like they were in too much of a hurry to prolong his Arsenal stay.
The Gunners did bring in Pablo Mari on loan from Flamengo and would like to make his move permanent. They also signed William Saliba from Saint-Etienne which means that they’d have cover if Luiz were to move on.
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At 33, David Luiz may not be long when it comes for playing for the top teams in Europe. He’s stated that he’d like to finish his career at Benfica. If Arsenal are to transform under Arteta, perhaps the best decision for both sides is to move on.