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Arsenal are set to trigger a one-year extension in the contract of central defender David Luiz,
The 32-year-old singed for £8 million from Chelsea in the summer of 2019 and he is now set to stay at the Emirates Stadium until 2021.
Luiz has enjoyed a decent first season following his switch across London, playing 32 games in all competitions for the Gunners.
During the last two games he has struck up a decent partnership with Pablo Mari and that could now continue next season.
Luiz is vastly experienced in English football, playing 185 times in the Premier League; whilst also picking up 56 caps for Brazil in the process.
His arrival at Arsenal was met with mixed reactions. Former centre-back Martin Keown was particularly critical back in August.
“Arsenal are taking a player with a little bit of baggage.
“He’s good value with the money they’ve paid for him and Arsenal are in a position where they had to get defenders in, but it’s a gamble.”
It perhaps speaks volumes about his attitude in the dressing room among the younger players with Mikel Arteta taking this step.
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Younger players look like they will be handed a chance in the Spaniard’s plans and Luiz is perhaps an ideal role model.
Paid keeping him around for another year seems like a no-brainer and his performance, on the whole, this season have been okay.
Luiz typically throws a really suspect performance in here and there but otherwise is a steady performer the majority of the time.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Arteta still views him as a first-team regular next season; or whether he has been added for another year purely for his influence in the dressing room.