David Luiz will have no choice but to take a pay cut if he wants to stay at Arsenal with Mikel Arteta’s side reluctant to renew his current £120,000-a-week deal, as reported by The Sun (6 April, page 51).
This time last year, the future of a veteran Brazilian centre-back was up in the air, his contract expiring at the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
One year on, it seems history is repeating itself.
Because, for the second time in 12 months, Arsenal are having to weigh up the pros and cons of keeping Luiz at the Emirates.
On one hand, the former Chelsea ace is 33, his best years seemingly behind him. On the other, he provides valuable experience on and off the pitch, his influence in the dressing room and among the younger members of Arteta’s squad well documented.
And, barring a couple of high-profile ricks, Luiz has been one of Arsenal’s more dependable defenders in 2020/21. In his injury-enforced absence, Gabriel Magalhaes and Rob Holding were taken to pieces by a rampant Liverpool side on Saturday.
According to The Sun, however, the finances involved in a potential contract renewal will understandably be at the front of Arsenal’s thinking.
Luiz is one of the club’s highest earners on £120,000 a week (£6.2 million a year). If the ageing centre-back wants to extend his stay in the English capital, he will have to accept a sizeable pay cut.
In February, Football London suggested Luiz could be offered a player-coach role at the Emirates.
That, more than anything, may reflect just how much an influence the affable Brazilian exerts behind the scenes at London Colney.
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