Arsenal: 3 reasons to exercise David Luiz extension

Arsenal must exercise a year extension in David Luiz’s contract if they are to keep him for another season. Here are three reasons why that would be a smart move.

After Sky Sports reported that David Luiz could leave Arsenal this summer with his contract set to expire, football.london claimed that the club actually has a year option included in his contract that they are yet to exercise. This means that the Gunners can keep Luiz if they want to. It would mean committing to his approximate £6.5 million-per-year wages, but the decision in their hands and does not rely on Luiz wanting to stay.

Here are three reasons why Arsenal should exercise the year extension.

3. Signing a centre-back will be difficult

David Luiz has been a consistent starter throughout the season, both under Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta. While his performances at the start of the year were a little shaky, since then he has settled into the leading centre-back position well, especially under Arteta — more on this later.

Arsenal would like to add to the centre-back position this summer. William Saliba will return from his loan, but other than the young Frenchman, Arteta has no reliable option to turn to, and even Saliba is a teenager with fewer than 30 senior appearances and has never played in the Premier League before. Signing a centre-back, then, is of the utmost importance.

But in the current market, that might be challenging. No one even knows when the transfer window will be, nevermind what form it might take. Arsenal will be dealing with a substantially reduced budget, they have other positions to address too, and the chances that they can sign a ready-made starter are slim, to say the least. If that is the case, Luiz’s experienced presence could be vital.