Arsenal Transfers: £8 Million Fee Agreed For Chelsea's David Luiz
Arsenal swoop in with a shock move for Chelsea's ball-playing centre-back.
As Arsenal manager Unai Emery looks to add to his central defensive options, The Gunners have agreed a deal to sign Chelsea’s David Luiz.
According to The Mirror, a fee of £8 million has been agreed to take the opinion-splitting Brazilian to The Emirates.
Emery has previously worked with the centre-back during his time in charge of Paris St-Germain, and the Spaniard clearly views Luiz’s ability to bring the ball out of defence as an attribute that would fit in well with his Arsenal team.
The player only actually signed a new Chelsea deal three months ago – a deal that tied him to Stamford Bridge until 2021 – so it seems a little strange that Frank Lampard’s men would be happy to allow the 32-year-old to leave for such a relatively small fee as £8 million. Either way, it looks as if this move is most certainly "on".
Having seen captain Laurent Koscielny depart for Bordeaux this week, Emery was desperately in need of at least one new centre-half – and it appears that the former Sevilla manager views Luiz as the perfect man to lead his backline.
Additionally, Arsenal are also close to completing a £25 million deal for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney; the player currently in London for a medical ahead of signing for The Gunners before today’s 5pm transfer deadline.