According to a report in the Daily Mail, Arsenal will not be extending David Luiz’s contract when his current deal expires this summer.
There has been much talk about David Luiz getting a new Arsenal deal and it seemed as if it would be based on him accepting a reduced playing role and more responsibility behind the scenes.
Even after his knee injury required surgery, effectively ending his season, Mikel Arteta said that the situation would be looked at this summer.
Now, it’s being claimed that the club will hand minutes to William Saliba instead.
What’s worth noting is that the Daily Mail’s piece comes from Football.London who are themselves making what appears to be an educated guess at the situation.
They write, “But with Saliba and fellow loanee Dinos Mavropanos returning and Calum Chambers also an option at centre back it appears unlikely that the former Chelsea defender’s deal will be renewed at this stage.”
Just a few days ago, it was reported that David Luiz’s knee problem would not impact Arsenal’s decision on giving the Brazilian a new contract this summer.
“We said that at the end of the season we will make a decision on those types of contracts,” Mikel Arteta answered when asked about the club’s plans to extend his contract for a further 12 months.
This all fits with what Arteta said at the start of March.
In mid-February, reports suggested Arsenal were planning to offer David Luiz a contract extension to remain with the club next season. However, these claims were quickly shot down by other reports that the two parties were not in negotiations just yet.
Then, in a March press conference, Mikel Arteta seemingly confirmed that they weren’t holding talks with Luiz just yet, by telling the media they only plan to make a decision at the end of the campaign.
Arteta was asked about Luiz’s contract situation and whether the defender is a positive influence in the dressing room.
“He is. Extremely positive,” Arteta said. “The professional he is, how he looks after himself, but also how he looks after his teammates. He’s always willing to help, he’s always really positive around it.
“He’s got huge experience of how to win things, but as well how to manage difficult moments and you need that.
“He’s a presence, he’s a leader and someone that is playing really well at the moment. What I want is that he keeps playing like that until the end of the season and we’ll make that decision together.”
Lazio are said to hold an interest in signing Luiz, although it seems very speculative at present.
Daily Cannon – Reading the Daily Mail so you don’t have to