Arsenal have handed David Luiz a one-year contract extension along with new deals for Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares.
According to David Ornstein, both Mari and Soares will feature in Mikel Arteta’s rebuilding plans with four-year contracts for themselves.
They were two of Arteta’s recruits during the January transfer window. The Spaniard need to reinforce his defence quickly and he chose these two. Even though Mari and Soares collectively have featured in three games, it is understandable why they might have a future at North London. Both are experienced defenders brought in for relatively cheap deals to serve as backup.
Perhaps the more confusing development has been Arsenal’s commitment to David Luiz. Signed for £8m last summer, it has been a disastrous debut season for the Brazilian at the Emirates. He has earned 2 red cards and made some really disastrous errors for a defender with his level of experience.
Arteta has been in favour of Luiz ever since he came in. That might be due to the 33-year-old’s impressive passing range from the back. But there will be no doubt, that he has faltered when doing his main job – which is to defend. After he single-handedly took down Arsenal’s chances against Manchester City in the 3-0 defeat, many fans turned against Luiz.
Arteta, meanwhile, maintained that Luiz was still firm in his plans. The Gunners boss said, “He [Luiz] has spoken in the dressing room. David is someone who is very honest and straightforward. I’m sure he will talk to you guys and explain his feelings but my opinion on David hasn’t changed. The moment I joined, what he’s done for the team, what he’s done for me, it won’t change because he had a difficult performance tonight.”
Arsenal overall, are in a very difficult stage and Arteta is aware of the job he has at hand. Fans will have to put their faith in the manager and trust what he will be doing in the rebuilding process. That will mean, decisions are not often too popular with the club’s faithful. This certainly happens to be so.
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