When the news broke that Arsenal were considering taking a discontented David Luiz off of Chelsea’s hands, supporters heads were in a spin. Was this the best business we could do to replace Koscienly? Feels a bit like Sylvestre all over again.
Luiz, at 32, is an experienced defender, he’s played in the Premiership and won things with Chelsea. We’ve watched him for years and know that he’s strong and wily and prone to go missing. He likes working with Emery but doesn’t like to be criticized so I’m not sure that’s really the personality we want but we do need a CB ……… and he’ll be ready to go.
These comments from some of our bloggers sum up different views.
I go out for five minutes and we are talking about David effing Luiz.
For goodness sake……………I despair.
I saw David Luiz at Psg and he is a good footballer and a decent defender. I don’t mind seeing him join AFC because he also adds a very very credible option at DM. When he played there at Psg for a few matches, he did excellent because his passing and positioning is rather good. He is also good at free kicks and is a serious aerial threats on set pieces. Big issue with him is that he has lapses and can let an attacker go unmarked or he ll get Booked stupidly. Another reason to get excited is that he had his best season with Conte when they played 3 at the back and I think that he would form quite a partnership with Holding and Sokratis at the back: Holding – Sok – Luiz
Despair is my reaction, LB.
Following the positivity of the rest of our signings, Luiz is a backward step, and no I dont believe will be an improvement whether CB or MF. Disruptive, ill disciplined, and most of all will he knuckle down and work on combinations for the good of a team in red.
Not a chance!
And finally, why would we ever be reconsidering three at the back. Doesn’t work unless all three are lightning quick and good positionally and even Holding lacks pace, let alone the Greek barge.
Dont do it please, Dick!
And this from fatgingergooner
Only way another CB other than Luiz comes in is if we get deals sorted for at least a couple of Iwobi/Kolasinac/Elneny to leave. Surely now it’s too late to think a deal will be done for a £20m-£40m defender? Luiz and Tierney would bring our outgoing to about £140m.
Luiz is the new CB. Time to get on board and get excited about the season. He had a solid campaign for Chelsea last year in a back 4 a lot of the time. No reason he can’t do the same for us this season.
Is he going to make our defence impenetrable? No.
Realistically, is there a CB out there who could do that within our transfer budget? No.
Is it he better than what we currently have? Yes and proven in PL so can play from day 1.
Maybe Transfer Deadline Day will bring some more surprises ……………….. just a few hours to go.
peachesgooner
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Ahh check out that hair! With him & Guendouzi, Loreal will be desperate to sponsor us!! Because you’re worth it 😂😂
He was the only Chelsea player I ever liked, because of his hair & how comical he was (yes partly his defending) and now he’s heading to the Emirates on a 2 yr deal…. we’re already used to comical defending, do we want more?
He’s 32… another oldie…. I’m sorry but I’m not exactly pumped over this one…. he may prove me wrong & head off the line against Liverpool & score a screamer of a free kick.. but that remains to be seen…..
I just can’t help but think why are Chelsea selling to us? Is he injured?? 🤣
I believe that for next season, Luiz will be an upgrade on departed Kos.
If Dick plays hims as a DM, even better.
David Ornstein @bbcsport_david
Arsenal have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign centre-back David Luiz for £8m. 32yo Brazil international will sign a 2yr contract. Deal for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney 5yrs, fee £25m. Medicals today ahead of putting pen to paper before 5pm deadline #AFC #CFC #CelticFc
Go away to Cornwall on holidays take one look at BBC sport see we are close to signing Tierney …good, lost Kozzer…upsetting given circumstance, signed Luiz…..er, er, he is going to be hard to love….
One positive I can see from that, he is a good passer from the back, so could the need for Xhaka disappear?
VP,
My view exactly. It’s a 2 year deal and it’s cost us nothing as it’s mainly the money and wages we’ll have saved from Koscielny. I’d rather have him here than just let Kos leave and have nobody come in. He is a short term option and it doesn’t disrupt any longer term plans that the club have for our defence (Saliba, Holding and probably another CB addition next summer).
David…. Is a great addition, he’s far better than all the other defenders AFC has at the moment!!!
FGG, agree, compared to Maguire, the cost of 8mil is peanuts.
We would make that back on one days bar revenue at the Emirates
Kos departs and we strengthen, win win
and surely Edu would be a BIG influence in this transfer
Thompson
Are you a Chav?
Daviiiid is not an improvement on Holding or Mavrapanos IMO, and will be worse than ” hard to love” GiE.
The only possible consolation for me is, as fourth choice to play at Chelski, and wanting out to play regularly, must have been promised a regular role. Luiz in, Xhaka out. Perfect. Love him!
No details of the Luiz deal yet ie how long the contract & what his salary will be. Central defenders can play well into their thirties (Adams, Keown & Bould) and as long as the stadium supporters take to him I see no reason why he won’t settle in and give us some added value. At least we’ll have three fit and ready to start central defenders plus Holding in training.
LBG I was scratching for positives 🙂
Will Everton come back in for Iwobi?
And where will Zaha end up?
Unless we sign another CB at the last minute I see our back line looking like this;
Sokratis Holding Luis
Belerin Thierney
Chambers and M-Niles as subs.
Suddenly it makes sense and with our midfield and attack we have one hell of a squad and about bloody time too. Pity we did not get Saha and Rugani but who knws in January??
I’m broadly in favour of the signing of David Luiz, we needed another centre-back and he’s a good short term addition while we wait for Saliba
Koscielny having a meltdown has left us with no option, we couldn’t get Rugani or Upamecano so this deal ticks all the boxes for me.
Looking at the defenders we have available for this weekend, their strengths and weaknesses maybe going three at the back is the way to go in the short term?
Luis I 2 gud
luiz a gd player who will ad creativity 2 arsenal squad
Did I say ‘three fit & ready to start central defenders’? Four surely…I’m overlooking Mustafi of course, I mean he is easy to overlook among such quality.
Interesting post script on my man Dominic Thompson. Selling him Brentford, allows Rico Henry to go to Celtic, and that has released Tierney.
Sell on clause for Thompson as well apparently.
Good luck Dominic. Prove your worth!
Good luck to Eddie at Leeds. Free flowing football. Will keep an eye out for you as well.
I wasn’t too sure initially how I felt about Luiz but on reflection it could be the right and smartest move.
If we all track back on our thought processes a few weeks ago the majority of us were saying that we couldn’t completely sort this team out in 1 summers TW, and this is probably one area that we can’t get 100% to our liking. There will be no VVD or other £70m CD but it will not be too bad and we can reassess any defensive needs next summer.
We will have 3 senior and experienced CD’s in Luiz, Soc and Mustaffi (who knows maybe he will step up a level this year), and a senior(ish) option in Chambers. That is already 5 options for this season alone.
We then have Holding to come back from injury, who many feel is a long term first choice CD anyway. If Mavropanous can have some injury free playing time (would prefer our under 23’s than a loan) this season then he could factor later on or next year. Saliba is in the bag, who will be with us next season.
If we get Tierney and then Bellerin back from injury (although I still believe in AMN) we will have a much more solid back 4 overall which should help any CD pairing. As I mentioned yesterday playing with attacking wing / wing forward players, as we seem to be heading towards, this season should make the whole team be more balanced and hard to brake down.
There is an added bonus of then having either Luiz or Chambers as a more solid holding midfield option thus providing better cover to the 2 CD’s behind than we had the last 2 seasons and beyond. That could raise the question about us cashing in on Elneny and Xhaka to offset some of our money spent and / or to get that money in the pot for future TW’s.
We would probably be stronger with either Luiz or Chambers at our midfield base and weirdly I think it could improve our attack by allowing the players in front more freedom safer in the knowledge that everything behind them is more stable.
Wilf hasn’t trained with Palace today….. 🤔
Sorry 4 senior options not 5. 2+2 = errr…
I haven’t factored Monreal into the CB equation because I don’t think he should go anywhere near it unless we have a major injury crisis. He should never play as 1 of 2 CD’s in a back 4 but at a push could possibly be more sound on the left of a back 3. Probably 1 of Kola or Monreal should leave anyway if Tierney comes.
I do have some concerns about promising youngsters like Bielik and now Thompson leaving and would have loved a buy back option. I don’t want to see Iwobi leave because I feel he can become an excellent BTB CM for us if we switch his role and would certainly rather see him playing the position between the holding CM and attacking CM than Elneny, Xhaka or Micki. Those latter 3 ought to be where we recoup some funds.
I wish we had sold xhaka to inter and use the money for a proven DM than leaving him here to do a Mustafi type of blander .
We can almost field 3 strong separate teams in a variation of the 4-3-3 system using a proper holding midfielder, a BTB midfielder and attacking CM. How about these as possible line ups (more a 4-2-1-3, but still really the basic 4-3-3 system):
Leno
Bellerin Socrates Holding Tierney
Luiz (HM) Torreira (BTB)
Ozil (ACM)
Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang
Martinez
AMN Mustaffi Holding Monreal
Chambers (HM) Willock (BTB)
Ceballos (ACM)
Saka Aubamayeng Nelson
or
Leno
Bellerin Holding Socrates Tierney
Luiz (HM) Iwobi (BTB)
Pepe (ACM)
Saka Lacazette Aubamayeng
We have strong options in this type of 4-3-3 system with good replacements in most positions. The team looks balanced defensively but still essentially full of attacking intent. Bearing in mind that players like Iwobi and Willock could still play the ACM role as well but shouldn’t need to with Ozil and Ceballos.
Pepe could also probably play just behind the central striker with 2 other wider options as shown in example 3. The big key to me is that UE gets the midfield base right which is why I agree with Mike that this will be a key to our success and, as such, what he does with Xhaka.
We would probably also look reasonably strong in a 3-4-3 but I still think I prefer the above system with a back 4.
So Arsenal have gone on a splurge.Expectations will be high for all managers. The thing is they have to start winning.
Failure is not an option other than the sackl
GB,
Just out of interest, what is it about Iwobi that makes you think he can play as a CM player?
I see a lot of comments like this where people believe we should switch players positions, but I can never get my head around it! Earlier in the season people were talking of Kolasinac at HM! Bonkers. I also remember the long debate about Vermaelen playing HM. I just don’t think that clubs as big as Arsenal require players to switch roles. Sure, it happens now and again, usually to cover injury or when players are young and are looking for a space in a team, but i imagine it’s rare to see someone in their mid 20’s suddenly pop up in a totally different position.
Good question FGG.
Briefly, on the holding midfield role I think you really need either a player who has specialised at it or a CD with better ball playing skills who aren’t too slow. I may have championed Vermaelen at one point, but likely as a desperate suggestion for someone more robust in that role than AW was playing there.
In reality he was probably not right but I do think both Luiz and Chambers tick the boxes and would make us a lot more defensively solid there than anyone we have recently played there.
On Iwobi it is more looking at how his skill set is and where it would be most effective. Iwobi looks to have excellent pace, is strong, and seems to have a good engine, and he has great feet and dribbling ability.
This means that in tight areas he can get away from closing down opposition and can carry the ball which is something I would like to see more in the heart of our midfield. Xhaka cannot do this and relies solely on immediately releasing the ball with very little movement with the ball at his feet and he gets caught in possession or makes a hurried intercepted pass too often when no passing option is immediately available.
Iwobi has a certain eye for goal but is not prolific and doesn’t really show a regular 30 yard curl it to the top corner type shooting ability. This last bit is why I feel he may struggle as a goal-scoring wing forward at the top level, and I kind of feel we have been kidded into believing this was his best position due to his pace and dribbling skills. However an 8-10 per season goal return would be decent from a central BTB player, but not so much an attacking wing forward.
The one question-mark would be on his ball distribution, but I feel until he is given a go more centrally we will not know whether that will hold him back or not. If he shows an eye for a pass then I think he could be excellent in that role and would give us an extra dynamism and forward momentum that we have lacked recently.
The final reason is that I saw him play in that role in pre-season a year ago and thought he looked excellent and was our standout player, giving us all that forward thrust and ball carrying through midfield I just mentioned. He also didn’t shirk his defensive duties.
Morning all. I think Luiz completes a good window for us and Tierney makes it even better. Probably a 10 or 10.5 out of 10 because Luiz doesn’t make us better at defending but he does a couple of things. First, fits our budget and helps plug the Saliba gap for a year. Second, gives us a little more time to get Holding fully fit. Third, is probably a straight replacement for Koscielny and if so, imho is a definite upgrade. last, brings a winning mentality to a squad that could definitely use it. I can’t see it as a bad signing. As FGG says, he doesn’t make us worse so even if you think he doesn’t make us better, in the short term, it can’t hurt much. I just hope he’s not another Gallas.
In a last ditch desperate move to push through a transfer to Everton, Zaha skipped training and was spotted in Merseyside without any agreement being Palace and Everton
Fred.. apparently it’s done & Wilf will remain at Palace 😭😭😭
Glad we wont have to face Carroll on Sunday. Welcome Kieran!
Finally!!! Welcome to the Arsenal, Tierney 👊
Wobbly are you off to hold Theo’s hand?
Omg Iwobi might yet become a toffee!!!!
If it’s true we got £40 million for Iwobi you have to say that’s a good bit of business. I was always a fan, but that price is not to be refused for a fairly average player.
What that does to home grown
…and it looks as though we’ve covered our expenditure also.
I’m not often right, but I’m wrong again. Forgot the Pepe deal when estimating our ins/outs.
Duh!
Afternoon all … I’d just like to point out that we’ve only profiled 6 potential signings this summer … and they’ve all come to fruition. 100% success rate .. who says all blogs tell lies to attract clicks 🙂
Everton on the brink of signing a £40m box to box midfielder called Iwobi. Never heard of him 😉
Is Iwobi really gonna go to Everton? That would be sad. I think he has to stay with us.
Kieran was “down the park with his friends” when he got the call to fly to London last night.
Classic! Old fashioned story for a boy with talent, passion and drive. Get your head up, smile, ( despite that broken jaw) and smash it for yourself and us.
Hush RC
Awww just read Tierney’s farewell message… what a guy!
I can’t wait till he’s fit… so glad we got him 👍
What’s the hold up with Iwobi & Luiz?
Luiz deal about to be confirmed but has been approved. Iwobi deal pending approval.
Leno, Martinez
Bello, AMN
Sok, Holding, Luiz, Monreal
Tierney, Kola
Chambers, Xhaka
Torreira, Douzi, Willock
Ceballos, Ozil, Mkhy
Pepe, RN, Auba, Saka
Laca
Leno – AMN, Luiz, Sok, Monreal, Kola – Chambers, Xhaka, Mkhy or Willock – Laca, Auba
Against Newcastle
Forgot Laca was injured… So RN in
My money is on West Brom to get promotion next year. Last minute deal for Willock brother plus Southampton goal scorer. Good deals.
Iwobi is surely only being used to negotiate a better deal for Zaha?
One things stands out – David Luiz looks so much better in red!!
No 23
The new Sol Campbell!
and Laca and PEA signed contract extensions
A pretty good off season, well done Sanllehi
Iwobi for £30m+ is great business for us. He’s been a promising player for about 3 seasons now but hasn’t really pushed on and at 23, how long do we wait? We’ve got younger players in Martinelli, Saka and Nelson who can produce the 5 goals and 5 assists that Iwobi contributes per season.
I hope he does well at Everton, but I won’t be losing any sleep over his departure.
Hear hear, FGG 👍
I said before the window that our 2 main areas of concern last season were the defence and the attacking midfield areas. Fast forward a couple of months and we’ve signed 3 defenders and 3 attacking players. Very, very happy. Cannot wait to see Pepe and Tierney in the side and Luiz and Ceballos should get plenty of games too and improve on what we have. Martinelli has looked capable in pre season and should develop, and hopefully Saliba will be first team ready when he arrives next summer.
We’ve gotten rid of a few fringe players in Bielik, Jenkinson and Ospina, aswell as seeing Iwobi, Ramsey and Koscielny leave. However, none of those losses feel too hurtful as we’ve known about Ramsey for a while, Koscielny is no longer what he once was, and Iwobi just didn’t seem to be developing. I really like the Nketiah loan deal to Leeds too and it would be fantastic if he could fire them into the PL and earn himself another 12 months their next season to see if he’s ready for the top flight.
A net spend of around £80m and a feeling that we’ve strengthened our attack significantly whilst managing not to make an already porous defence weaker despite losing our captain. We’ve even managed to look to the future with the signings of Saliba and Martinelli, aswell as the integration into the first team of Willock, Nelson, Martinez and Saka.
A very successful summer from the Arsenal hierarchy. The addition of Edu and the work that’s been done by the transfer guru’s might have just started to repair what was a crumbling relationship between the fans and the board. It looks like we will be an exciting team to watch this season and I can’t wait for the football to start.
Over to Unai to make Arsenal great again!
Gutted about Iwobi… Out for 32 mln EUR. Losing a HG and an academy player who clearly has huge potential and had gunner bloodcells…
We also let go of Jenko – another arsenal fan. We also let Bielik go and we loaned out Nketiah.
We re still with overpaid and annoying Mustafi, Xhaka, El Neny and either Ozil or Mkhy. They can still be sold, which is a good news. I think El Neny may join Bordeaux while Mustafi is still being pursued by Monaco. Now if we could get rid of Xhaka and Ozil… I wouldn’t complain
I think Willock, RN, Martinelli and Saka have given Emery enough confidence to provide adequate back up so Emery let Iwobi go – let s hope it was the right decision.
Now Newcastle is looming and can’t wait for the season to start with Luiz, Tierney, Ceballos, Pepe and Martinelli in our squad.
Am hoping that Emery has a better idea of how he wants to set up the team to control the games. He has a lot of options and am hoping he finds the right balance and defensive stability despite the Mustafi-Xhaka liabilities
New season, new start?
Any chance we don’t bash Mustafi, Xhaka and Özil every game regardless of their performance? It’s fun for a while but it’s a new season and surely time to get behind the team.
Does the club have a captain yet??
I take my hat off to Raul & co, for an absolute belter of a transfer window!! I never thought they’d pull this much business off!
Just goes to show, you shouldn’t believe everything you read, hey?!
Yes we’ve lost some true gooners, but I’m very, very happy with who’s come in.. just think when everyone is fit! That is going to be some team 👌
Am pumped as I’ve managed to get tickets for the Burnley game… but first up – Newcastle! Come on Arsenal, let’s start as we mean to go on!! 👍
I think our business was jn the top 7 of the EPl. CITY, Utd, Tottenham, West Ham, Everton and ourselves did well IMHO.
De Gea – Bisaaka, Luiz, Maguire, Sessegnon – Ndombele, Rodri, Lo Celso – Pepe, Haller, James
I put De Gea coz he almost left
Leno – Bellerin, Luiz, Holding, Tierney – Ceballos, Xhaka, Torreira – Pepe, Laca, Auba
As predicted best line up by Skysports. What do you think?
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11780339/how-much-did-your-club-spend
Great article
Willock in for xhaka please
Can u give me a synopsis can’t open
If Arsenal don’t sell anymore players this month then that’ll leave us with a senior squad of 23, 6 home based and 17 foreign.
Has to be one of the best summer transfer windows ever, almost every aspect of the squad that needed attention has been strengthened.
Big season ahead for Willock, Nelson, Martinelli and Saka, plus Smith Rowe if he stays at Arsenal, these lads have a big job to do, we’re gonna need them all to perform – and Emery needs to trust them and use them…
Roll on Sunday…
Interesting to see big brother Chris Willock back in the U.K. on loan from Benfica for a season at West Brom…
Nottingham Forest vs Leeds this weekend coming, Jenkinson vs Nketiah, should be a good game…
Morning all, fgg’s comment was far too good last night … so I’ve stolen it for today’s …
…. New post
What a window!
I wanted the club to get a
CB, DM, RB and FW as a minimum
And ideally a
GK, RB, CB, DM, CM, FW, ST
We got for the upcoming season (so not counting Saliba)
Luiz, Tierney, Ceballos, Pepe and Martinelli.
I feel we re still short of a RB, DM and ST (especially since Eddie left) but I find solace that we have Chambers and Luiz that can play DM.
Based on the recruits, I think it s fair to say we want even more direct play and also add more width to our game.
Can’t wait for our first game when all our squad is fit.. Who is your best starting XI now that we know our squad (at least for now as we may see some players leave including Mustafi and El Neny)
I didnt realise Luiz is 2 years younger than Kos