The Brazilian international left Stamford Bridge for Arsenal on deadline day in a surprise £8m move and already made his debut in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Burnley. But why did Luiz leave Chelsea and why did Arsenal pay such a low transfer fee?
The transfer certainly took many by surprise. Former Arsenal and West Ham legend Nigel Winterburn reveals in an exclusive interview that he didn’t see the transfer coming neither. “I’m really surprised that Chelsea allowed Luiz to leave to join a direct rival who are fighting for same fourth position in the league, especially considering their transfer ban.”
David Luiz himself has recently revealed why he left Chelsea for Arsenal this summer. The central defender has made clear that he departed the club because he did not fit with Lampard’s philosophy.
“It is a new challenge in my career, where I took the decision to fight for new things, and I enjoyed it in the best way possible,” he told Mundo ESPN. ”In talks with Frank [Lampard], [he said] he had a different plan for the year. So we spoke in total honesty, and he made it clear that he had different ideas from mine. So I had this opportunity, to receive an offer from Arsenal, which is a great club. I still respect Chelsea. It’s never easy for people to understand everything that goes through. But my decision was also to respect Chelsea and their new manager, who wanted to implement a different philosophy at the club.”
The reasons why David Luiz wanted to leave Chelsea for The Gunners do make sense, but why did Chelsea sell him for such a low price? When taking in account the price of central defenders has only been going up in recent years, a £8m transfer fees seems rather low. The reason why the transfer price was so low appears to be the same why David Luiz didn’t want to stay at Chelsea.
The Brazilian didn’t fit in the plans of Lampard, and with only a few hours left on deadline day, Chelsea chose to let the defender go. Luiz had already put some pressure on The Blues and instigated his move away from Stamford Bridge. The central defender made it clear he wanted to make it happen when he chose not to train with the team the day before the transfer was completed. In the end, a transfer was the best option for both the club and the player. Taking into account the fact that Chelsea didn’t want to keep on paying the wage of an unwanted player, a reasonable transfer fee was agreed.
