da bet nacional： Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side this season has been a well-oiled machine, running perfectly as they have climbed to the top of the Premier League table, and more importantly, stayed there. The question is, can they maintain their form over the next few weeks to claim the title?
da leao： The Spaniard has endured a tough few seasons in charge of the club and the patience of the board looks as though it will finally bear fruit this term. Arteta has had to slowly improve his squad while getting rid of various players who weren’t contributing enough during his first few years at the helm.
One of those players was David Luiz, who joined the north Londoners in 2019 under former manager Unai Emery. Sadly, he turned out to be a waste of money during his stint at the club.
How much did David Luiz cost Arsenal?
The Brazilian centre-back was well known for his abilities due to his experience with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain before arriving at the Emirates for £8m in 2019.
For that fee, it looked as though the club had received a defender with vast knowledge of the Premier League that could shore up their backline.
Having won the Champions League and Premier League during his spell at Stamford Bridge, bringing a winning mentality to Emery’s side was crucial as he eyed glory, yet his two-year spell didn’t exactly go to plan.
He made 73 appearances for the Gunners over two seasons, scoring four goals, however, his seasonal Sofascore ratings of 6.75 and 6.82 in that time frame were hardly enough to convince the supporters he was the player they needed.
Arsenal conceded 48 and 39 goals in the league alone when Luiz was part of their defence, while his often comical style certainly didn’t help.
Indeed, journalist Chisanga Malata criticised the Brazilian during the end of his first season, saying: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, David Luiz is one of the worst players in the Premier League. Can’t defend, positionally useless and has the decision-making of an imbecile.”
This basically sums up his career in a nutshell with the centre-back having made the most errors leading to a Premier League goal in 2020 by the midway point of the year.
Along with the £8m transfer fee, Luiz also earned £15.6m in wages during his time at Arsenal, rinsing the club for a combined figure of £23.6m over his shoddy 98-week spell, before leaving for nothing at the end of the 2020/21 campaign when his contract expired.
Arteta certainly won't be making mistakes of this magnitude like his predecessor, that’s for sure.