According to the Athletic (subscription required), David Luiz’s single season with Arsenal has cost the club a total of up to £24m.
Details of the centre-back’s transfer to the Gunners, which was completed on deadline day last summer, has emerged amid speculation that the 33-year-old could actually leave this summer as the north London outfit are yet to trigger an option to extend the star’s deal by another year.
The Athletic now report that as well as Arsenal parting with an £8m fee to London rivals Chelsea for Luiz, the move also included as much as £6m in fees handed to intermediaries to seal the deal.
Finally, the Brazil international’s yearly salary stands at £10m, it’s quite shocking to see that the Gunners would negotiate such a deal – one that hasn’t represented much value for the club.
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This deal raises several question marks, did the club not have any second thoughts when they realised that intermediary fees were worth the same as 75% (£6m) of the ace’s actual transfer value (£8m)?
Also considering that the Gunners gave into these demands, whilst also offering a £10m annual salary, why was Luiz only handed an initial one-year deal?
Parting with a total of almost £24m just to have Luiz – who is respectably past his prime and approaching the final years of his career at the top – for one season seems quite alarming.
Unless the Gunners have an almighty end to the season, combined with their rivals performing poorly, this move would look even worse as once again the Emirates outfit look set to be without Champions League football.
Even with the club sanctioning such fees for a deal that could only span one-year, was Luiz ever going to be capable of living up to this total price-tag?
The ace’s performances at the start of the season were fairly unconvincing but he’s steadied his displays since Mikel Arteta took the reins.
The Gunners are even facing an uphill battle to secure Europa League football for next season, wouldn’t some Arsenal fans argue that the club would be in the same position as they are now if Luiz wasn’t signed?