Initially the news that Arsenal may release David Luiz came as a huge shock, but it does start to make sense when you think about it.
He’s 33 years old so probably won’t have more than two years left at the top level, and it’s not like the Arsenal defence would fall apart without him.
He still has severe concentration issues despite his experience, and he’s not a brilliant defender so it makes sense that Mikel Arteta might look towards the future.
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That certainly seems to be the views of Jamie Carragher, after his comments to Sky Sports were reported by The Evening Standard:
“We know he can lack concentration and make poor decisions and that’s cost certain teams. That’s why he’s moved on in his career. I know Arsenal are really excited about the prospect of Saliba coming in who will be joining next season. He’s only 19, so I still think they need a little bit more experience in that position.”
“To be honest, it’s no surprise they won’t be renewing David Luiz’s contract.”
We are yet to see official confirmation that Luiz will be released, but those comments certainly sound like it might happen.
It’s also completely understandable that they might give William Saliba a chance to develop and prove himself. He’s shown that he’s a good defender who’s physical and good on the ball – of course he might make mistakes, but so does David Luiz.
Arsenal should look to let him make his mistakes and learn from them, and it means in two years they might have a top level defender who will be at the club for years to come – where if they stuck with David Luiz they would need to find a replacement anyway.