Chelsea couldn’t believe that Arsenal were so eager to sign Brazilian defender David Luiz in the summer window, according to Tony Cascarino.
Luiz has always been error-prone, but his final year at Chelsea was arguably his worst yet, and Lampard made it clear that he would not be in his plans for the 2019-20 season.
Arsenal might have hoped that a Champions League winner with lots of experience would help solve their defensive problems, but he has so far failed to endear himself to the fans.
Cascarino says that Chelsea were surprised Arsenal wanted to bring in “their poorest defender”, and jumped at the opportunity to sell Luiz to a direct rival for a cut-price fee.
When asked to name the worst signing of the summer window in his latest column for The Times, the ex-Chelsea striker wrote: “David Luiz.
“When Arsenal bought the Brazil defender in the summer for £8m I know that Chelsea’s reaction was: ‘Wow, they’ve taken our poorest defender’.
“You have that familiar image of him chasing after a forward who has got behind him: opponents always know that the 32-year-old will give them space by wandering out of position.
“He is a fine footballer who sprays the ball around well but for a player with so much experience his defending is not good enough.”
Luiz will likely retain his spot in Arsenal’s starting XI when they come up against his former club at the Emirates on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta will be looking for his first victory since succeeding Unai Emery as the Gunners new manager when they take on Chelsea, who lost 2-0 to Southampton in their last game.
