Arsenal have confirmed the signing of David Luiz from Chelsea.
The defender joins on a two year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £8m.
A centre-half has long been on the shopping list this summer, with links to players like Dayot Upamecano and Daniele Rugani in the last few days. The prohibitive cost of the former, and doubts over the quality of the latter have seen the club eschew those deals in favour of something a little less complicated.
With Laurent Koscielny gone to Bordeaux, there was a gap in experience in the defensive ranks and the 32 year has plenty of that, having made 160 appearances for Chelsea in two spells at the club.
He has 56 caps for Brazil, and will bring plenty of on the ball quality to Arsenal, although he does have a bit of a reputation for defensive errors too.
However, with so little time remaining, options were limited, so let’s hope he can forge good partnerships with Sokratis, Calum Chambers and Rob Holding when he’s back from injury.
Yessssssss!
We love Raul Sanllehi
Signed,
Every Arsenal fan
now sell mustafi and earn a statue at the stadium
He (if everything works to plan) could be looked on in a few years down the as having (not) singlehandedly revolutionized Arsenal and kickstarted an incredible Era. If he stays and is our whatever the fuck he is and great at it (Kroenke is happy if his administrators don’t shit their pants) for the next 12 – 25 years and has a great tenure, it won’t matter if he’d sold Mustafi he’ll get a statue , but if he does he might get a golden statue, from all the gold we won on our conquests in my opinion #mentalhealth should… Read more »
Should form a great partnership with the younger Callum Chambers, Stopper CB alongside Ball Playing CB .
Good player. Great hair. Come in and help us out big Dave. Extra points if you play a blinder against Chelsea like you did for PSG.
Not sure how to feel, to be honest.
But I can tell you that I sure was relieved when it was confirmed.
I reckon you feel relieved then
None of that damn logic, Dave.
I think that’s part of the reason to delay the announcement!
I’m also relieved it wasn’t another Chelsea CB that was mentioned a few times this transfer window – Gary Cahill!
He does look a bit weird in an Arsenal shirt tbh, but let’s see how it goes
I know what you mean, it was almost like getting all the best christmas presents, and then forgetting that in all the excitement you didn’t open your stocking, and ending the day with some perplexing novelty gift/troll toy. But I must admit I’m now warming to the idea. He’s without a doubt a leader (captained PSG, Chelsea, Brazil), he offers us passing range that Pepe and Aubameyang will thrive on, can produce magic at important moments (especially long range free kicks), is comfortable with the ball, and can also play at DM. His defending is questionable at times but on… Read more »
Emery!
All eyes on you
Great window, after a really long time. Actually i can’t recall a better window than this. Club have really out done themselves. Over to you now Mr Emery..
I noticed you didn’t mention Mustafi there…
4 centre backs is enough surely
Please let it be enough
5 if you include mavropanos?
I would have liked to sell him to other PL for free points but abroad would be good
Thumps up if you’re happy.
No pleasing some people
Maybe their Gerbil just got run over? Hard to cheer themselves up then…
Do you think they were time-sharing the gerbil?
What. A. Window!!!
Phew! Yes, we couldn’t land Upemecano but wow!
Bring on the season!
Yes a very good window; exceeded most Gooners expectations. Especially considering the sour atmosphere around the club after the Raul/Vinai AGM a few weeks ago. One concern though, with Cech and Ospina sold, is Martinez good enough to be our number two keeper? He’ll be playing cup games I presume which will be our best chance of silverware. Or should we have signed an experienced back up ala Liverpool signing Adrian and City signing Carson?
Carson is mehhh
Good point. It just seems such a dip in quality to go from Cech to Martinez. It’s gonna be a huge season for him if he gets all the cup games.
Personally I’d much rather we gave one of our keepers the chance to stake a claim than bring in a journeyman. Martinez is only 26 – his ceiling surely has to be higher than someone like Scott Carson.
To all of you who regret not getting Upamecano take a look here, at around 2:15, and see how easily Lewandowski brushes him off:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOWAxsQNGxw
I’m not convinced he’s so classy and certainly not worth the money RB are asking.
Incidentally, shouldn’t that be Upa-Meccano. Maybe I can find my old set and make us one. It’d certainly be better than Mustafi.
he’s meant to be fast, but main issue in that clip is how slow he is. was he carrying an injury or something then. because any fast person could have done better. cherry picked i feel
As long as he leaves Bart Simpson alone, let’s hope he can shore up our leaky defence. Battle of the only hair brush in the dressing room…
Barr Simpson just signed for bordeaux
Phew! Avoided some hairy moments there!
It will do. Especially with Saliba coming in next season. Unrelated but if the fee for Iwobi is £28m upfront and £7m in bonuses to get it to £35m then I think we still haven’t figured out how to sell as a club.
they will be appearance based, after 100 games they pay 5m for example.
its how every deal is done, spreads costs and probably goes some way to avoid ‘overpaying tax’
I’m not happy about that sale
Literally snatching Guendouzi’s wig.
maybe we should sign Fellaini as well?
No thx. i can recall him tugging on some hair last season. You just leave a mans
hair alone.
Mixed feelings on this last signing… but overall a fantastic transfer window and let’s trust Emery to get the best out of him when he’ll play
I remember watching Ars v Chl and Luiz was owning us and I was super impressed, then he got a red card and I was like, ha ha. Anyhow I hope we get the good Luiz, not the first time he has been linked with us, seems like he wants to be a gunner, which is a good sign
I think this is a smart piece of business.
Excited for this. People think he’s not good defensively- he’s better than most of our central defenders. He’s a winner, was integral to Chelsea’s league win in 16/17, a Champions League winner, he’s also one of the best ball playing CBs in the world even at the age of 32. Just look at his stats last season. Completely negates Xhaka too because Luiz is far better at penetrative passing.
Exciting. He’s a winner and nobody can dispute that.
Can he also play midfield, or is that just on fifa?
He could play as a DM if required
Great news, welcome David Luiz. Should put Mustafi 4th in the pecking order.
When Holding is back, Mustafi will be 5th!
Mustafi still enjoys a great deal of Emery’s confidence. He will continue partnering Sokratis.
Mustafi was chosen because:
* Kos couldn’t play regularly (once he was back)
* Holding was injured
* Chambers was at Fulham
* Mavropanos was injured and then really rusty when he came back.
Things might be different now.
Even with only Mustafi he’ll still be fourth in the pecking order.
Luiz can also play defensive midfield so that’s another option if Xhaka and Torriera are absent.
A player who’d been with us for 9 yrs leaves showing very little loyalty, then a key player from a hated rival practically jumps at the chance to play for us even though his club is in the Champions League and we’re not.
Mad mad window
Did he play in the europa final last season? If he did then he must be having an oh-shit moment.
Why? You reckon he thinks we won the game lol
He did play in the Final, and he was annoyingly good at defending Laca and Auba
Great point I loved to hate him during his first chelski spell 14 year old boy controlling a PlayStation or something like that was pretty accurate .. but after his spell at PSG he was a different player..
Really happy about this signing
9 years and then you question his loyalty?
Hey guy, What about Mus?
Good signing. Hopefully once Saliba joins us after his year on loan, Luiz will mentor him and we’ll have a half decent defence again.
Good window.
Brilliant signing. Does he start on Sunday at Newcastle? I think he has to.
Says he is injured in report 🙁
I think that’s just the wording. It’s Holding who is injured and blogs is hoping Luiz forms a good partnership with him when he is back from injury
I doubt it. That doesn’t seem like Emery’s style. I think it’s going to be Chambers and Papa.
Someone has to for sure!
All things considered this has been a brilliant window. One of the best in many years. Two windows like that and we could be well on our way. Two weeks ago I was feeling suicidal – but fair play to the club today. Excited.
“Two weeks ago I was feeling suicidalal”- you have said this in a casual manner, And not really meant it…right?
It’s worrying that he hasn’t replied.
I can’t remember specifically what season but I know Chelsea played 5 at the back a few years ago and Luiz actually looked like a decent defender with the extra protection. I wonder if that had something to do with the transfer happening, since that was a system we deployed plenty last season. Him, Sokratis, and Monreal/Holding as a three back wouldn’t look THAT bad. Would give Tierney more opportunity to get forward too.
It seems pretty clear that Emery does not want to go for 3 at the back. But Luiz played in Chelsea’s 4-back system last season and did quite well. I do, however, remember people saying, under Conte, that Luiz needed the 3 at the back system
Hmm. Well, at least it’s an upgrade on Mustafi: Luiz may not be great at defending either, but at least he’s good at long passes and linking the play, unlike Mustafi, who isn’t good at anything except raising his hand in the air and sliding on his arse.
Not great at defending? Come on he’s won the league in 3 different countries and won the Champions League and played 50 times for Brazil.
And yet through all that has never been known as particularly good at defending. His defense stats have always been average (blocks, interceptions, tackles) to downright bad (aerial duels). Where he is spectacular is his passing ability; he’s arguably the best defender on the ball in the world.
You are forgetting Mustafi’s other great skill: the flying two-footed tackle of opposing players’ shins in the penalty box.
I.m happy enough..good player!
The delay in announcing the signing was the need to handle the demand that Arsenal sign his brother Cecil…
Fair play to the club I did not expect this transfer window. COYG!
Well I must admit a few weeks ago I was in despair with the mythical £45 million and not much happening, but I have to admit I’m blown away by this window and optimistic for the coming season.
Comparing Luiz and Kos, Luiz is a winner with winners mentality. Kos was quiet leader, whom eventually turned out to be complete prick. Also, towards end of last season Kos was woeful. He was far past his best before date and was piece of Wengers “confortability puzzle”, where as Luiz is miles away from that. This is fantastic signing for us!! COYG!!
At least he is coming with plenty cojones.
Yep we added cojones as well
Are there any rules this season regarding limit of non-eu players? Luiz apparently has Portuguese citizenship. So with Iwobi gone, I guess we have 6; Martinez, Torreira, Elneny, Martinelli, Pepe, and Aubameyang.
Iwobi counted as home-grown.
So does Martinez, I believe
Isn’t Martinelli an Italian citizen?
Luiz has a Portuguese and Brazilian citizenship. Torreira: Uruguayan+Spanish. Martinelli: Brazilian+Italian. Pepe and Auba is born in France and is practically French. However Martinez and Elneny seems to only have sole citizenships.
How are we doing on the HG quota btw?
We don’t have any limits on non-EU players, it can just be harder to get work permits for them. You can have a maximum squad size of 25, of which 8 must be “Home grown” (played in the UK for 3 years before turning 21), so if you only have 7 home grown players, you can only register 24 in total, etc. u21 players don’t need to be registered, so Saka, Martinelli etc don’t count towards the squad this season.
Didn’t want him but he’s here now, let’s get behind him (there have been a few of those over the years).
I wonder whether we’ll see any more outgoings before the European window closes?
I see where you’re coming from with your first point, and I kind of agree. He is above Silvestre, Benayoun (did OK in the end I know), and Gallas in terms of players I really did not want to join from rivals. Also above Mikhi who is OK and it is not his fault that he is on mega bucks. Below Campbell & Arteta (Everton not quite a “rival” club I know). I may be missing some but our rivals do not tend to sell to us, even now. So Luiz is a bit of a surprise. However, I have… Read more »
Mkhitaryan-Mustafi-Luiz-Kolasinac
I expect to see this back line at some point during the season.
Please explain…
Emery’s propensity to drop Mkhitaryan in at RB after red cards or even forced substitutions will complete the lineup. I don’t see how this is particularly implausible, but I do see why people don’t like seeing it so plainly put.
It’s implausible mate.
I sincerely hope you are right
A much better player than he’s given credit for and certainly an upgrade on some of the players we have. I get how this signing won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I’m happy with it personally.
Not being able to secure our desired CB in this window (for whatever reason) I would say that Luiz is about as perfect a stop-gap for the Arsenal that we would’ve been able to find anywhere. Don’t be surprised if this turns out to be the bargain of the season.
Thank you for not mentioning mustafi in your last sentance.
So now that’s over, starting 11 for Sunday? I think I’d like to see…
Leno
Chambers/AMN – Luiz – Papa – Monreal
Willock – Torreira
Pele – Ceballos/Ozil – Aubu
Lacazette
Not Pele obviously, that’d be…. odd #facepalm
These comments really need an edit button.
Or Aubu… fuck me that was a bad post.
Yeah very bad: Özil starts anyway for our good.
What’s a better starting 11 then?
Pepe could be our Pele
I doubt Pepe or Luiz will start this match. AMN-Chambers-Sokratis-Monreal is most likely at the back. In the middle Xhaka is a guaranteed starter as much as it hurts to say it, alongside Torreira. Willock will get a chance in the match for sure. Ceballos will likely start as will Özil, Auba and Lacazette. We might see Nelson in action and Guendouzi as subs.
I remember him mostly for a Brazil game where he and the entire team were shite until he scored a cracker of a free kick.
I wasn’t overly impressed with having him at first but it’s actually not a bad move from us. At least it’s an improvement on what we have (Mustafi) and he brings plenty of experience. If he should manage another free kick like the one I mentioned then happy days!
Welcome to Arsenal, David!
Of all the signings, this is the one that excites me. As for errors? Can anyone tell me off your head any major errors leading to a goal that he’s made in the last 2 seasons? I bet you can’t, because he’s been playing well for a Chelsea team that’s flown under the radar, so no one has been paying attention to him. Same for Brazil. Don’t get me wrong, the Upamecano fella will be great (next season when we get him), but it’s not just about Luiz quality (let’s not forget he’s got better stats than Maguire last season),… Read more »
I think we spent big this season to appease the fans – at the cost of potential transfers that were planned for the next year or two. We still might get people in, but not before we sell. Finally signing Tierney and Luiz were probably thanks to the sale of Iwobi which essentially funded both deals.
Who else thinks he should have been given a lower number? I say ship Elneny and give him the number 4 he had with Brazil!
Can’t wait to see a Papa/Luiz CD Pairing
Luiz is the kind of player you hate when he’s playing against your team. My Chav mates are sad to see him go, they said he fell out with Lampard who put him at number three in the BC pecking order.
He is good at defending corners and scoring from them according to the Chavies. I’ll take that, we have needed some arial defensiveness since Tone and Sol.
Drool, and a bit of dread.
Drool at his long balls from the back to the speed of Pepe and Auba over the press.
Dread at all the times I’ve laughed at him wrongly flapping his arms at the linesman, now being significantly less funny.
And sold iwobi……
Where’s our backup team..
We lost top four due to insufficient backup players
We can cover for short term injuries, youngsters will get their chance and that’ll be good for us in the long run. We are however not prepared for one more season without key players like Bellerín and Holding, but it’ll take another two years to get there, given that we get back into the CL.
Say what?
GK Leno; Martinez
RB AMN; Bellering; Chambers
CB Luiz; Sokratis; Holding; Chambers; Monreal; Mustafi
LB Tierney; Kolasinac; Monreal
CM Xhaka; Torreira; Guendouzi; Willock; Elneny; Ceballos
AM Ozil; Mkhitarian; Ceballos; Willock
WF Aubameyang; Pepe; Nelson; Smith-Rowe; Saka
CF Lacazette; Aubameyang; Pepe
That’s just off the top of my head so I probably missed some youngters too
ring a bell for bellering
Bellerin*
I’m pretty whelmed by this signing but I hope he does the business for us.
There’s still time to sell Mustafi abroad too.
I’m kind of hoping the Iwobi deal falls through at the last minute. I don’t really want him to go but if it’s £40 million that’s pretty good. Just have a feeling we might regret it later.
Literally a minute later… 🙁
How about that other piece by Tim Stillman on David Luiz?
Its a gem. One of the best introductions to any incoming transfers, here on the blog.
Great job, @stillberto.
PS: Discussing about it here because either the app I use to access Arseblog or Arseblog itself don’t allow comments on that article.
Really insightful. Some of the things he said I didn’t know at all, but the impressive thing was how he made sense of things I had seen, but hadn’t really put together. Much more optimistic about this signing after reading Tim’s piece.
Very interesting – will turn out to be absolute bargain or disaster. Read ‘ Geez Luis’ on Atseblog. Will depend how he is managed and coached. At end of season he may have had a better season than £80 m Maguire.
Given our desperation for a centre back I’m not moaning paying £8m for Luis
Sideshow Bob joins the Arsenal. Looks like Bart Simpson lookalike Koscielny got out just in time…
Welcome Sideshow Bob!
The questions becomes…how will we recognize Guendouzi and Luiz now…
Just watch his interview. I thought he was an exalted eccentric but he appeared to be a sweet composed human being. Love him already!
Thank You Raul and we are ready to gun then down
Fills Koscielny gap. Good move. Good window in general.
Welcome:-
https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sideshow-bob-300×300.jpg
I like how @arseblog choose to leave out Mustafi as a good partnership with Dave