Arsenal: David Luiz is exciting, but the real solution is more so

Arsenal fans should be buzzing over David Luiz, but it doesn’t matter, because the true defensive solution is more exciting.

Everyone is talking about David Luiz now. He’s being heralded as the best Arsenal signing of the summer and Jose Mourinho (of all people) has backed him to play even better at the Emirates than he did at Stamford Bridge. Which is high praise from him.

And it’s true, Luiz is an upgrade on Mustafi (yes, I’ve come around), but that doesn’t mean he’s the solution to the defensive problem, even if Luiz could conceivably play for another half decade.

Personally, I’m more excited about Calum Chambers finally getting a chance than I am about Luiz nipping into the starting XI. Chambers is eight years the younger and over the past year and a half, he has proven himself an ample Premier League defender with more room to grow yet.

That is a defensive solution. And taking it a step further, Rob Holding is due back soon, and the not-so-old belief that the Holding-Chambers defensive pairing was the foundation of the future can be revived.

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Frankly, we always knew Holding would be a part of it, but it’s Chambers re-emergence (which… again, I totally called) that has added some extra spice.

And that doesn’t even take into account the pending arrival of William Saliba, who is set to join next year. Younger than the already-young English pairing by half a decade and tagged as the next Varane, Saliba is a big time solution for a long-term problem like David Luiz just can’t be.

And that doesn’t even take into account Dinos Mavropanos, who is perpetually injured, but also perpetually exciting.

I understand the immediate palpability of David Luiz arriving and being a solution to the here and now. But again, Chambers it the same. And he’s been fighting for a spot in the first team for years now, and Rob Holding is just as immediately palpable, but without the health to benefit him. Hell, if Holding had stayed healthy, Luiz might not even be here.

I’m excited to see what Luiz can do as well, but I’m more excited to see what Holding and Chambers can do.

With this defense, the more solutions we can talk about, the better. We need options and we have them. We need variety and we have it. We also need youth, and we have that too. But not just far-off youth, either. Present day youth.