Mikel Arteta has paid tribute to Arsenal defender David Luiz.
A head injury and subsequent COVID situation had meant that the Brazil international hadn’t played for the Gunners in close to a month.
But the 33-year-old defender made his comeback in the FA Cup win over Newcastle United, producing a faultless display.
He isn’t the club captain – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is – but the veteran Arsenal centre-back plays a big role behind the scenes nonetheless in terms of leadership.
That was one of the reasons why Arteta and Edu signed him up to a new one-year deal last summer and now that we’re in the second half of this season, the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain stalwart, who’s out of contract in June, will be hoping to earn another one.
And he certainly has the backing of his head coach, as Arteta told Arsenal’s official website that this is a ‘fantastic’ player.
He said: “He is fantastic. He is one of the leaders in the dressing room. He is one of the most experienced players, he has won everything in the game. He is so good with the young kids. When you look at people who can help and be a role model, he is always with them, he is always supporting them, giving them confidence and advice. It is great to have someone like him around.”
Luiz cost Arsenal around £8 million in the summer of 2019 and given that he has won an FA Cup, it’s probably fair to say he’s been a decent addition.
Yes, he also has a catalogue of errors and red cards to his name in a pretty short period of time, but it was a low risk, high reward sort of signing by the North Londoners and that has certainly looked the case so far.
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