David Luiz took a significant pay decrease to sign a new one-year contract extension with Arsenal, according to various reports.

The Telegraph report that Luiz agreed to a significant decrease in his salary in order to agree a contract extension at Arsenal. In fact, that’s reportedly the reason the Gunners were willing to offer him a deal at all.

James Benge adds that Luiz was previously earning £125,000-a-week. However, he’ll now bring in even less for the next year of his contract with the club.

This certainly puts a dent in the narrative that Luiz and his agent Kia Joorabchian were holding Arsenal to ransom. In the end, they had to agree to pretty unfavourable terms just to get a deal back on the table.

For some Arsenal fans, whatever wages they pay the defender will still be too much. But I think it’s worth remembering how well the 33-year-old has often performed this season.

The problem is that it’s either been a strong performance or a major mistake from him. For every clean sheet against Manchester United, there’s a red card against Chelsea. In the big games, the individual errors seem to come around a lot more often.

It’s up to Luiz to prove he’s worthy of another year of wages, even on reduced terms.