Chelsea are reportedly ready to offer David Luiz to Arsenal in exchange for Olivier Giroud. It is widely known that the Blues are in the hunt for a striker and after watching an umpteen number of deals fall through, Chelsea have now turned their attention to the Frenchman.
BBC had reported last night that a possible domino effect was about to be set in motion with Olivier Giroud’s move to Chelsea triggering a set of events that would see Michy Batshuayi go out to Borussia Dortmund and thereby paving the way for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal. However, it would seem now that Arsenal and Chelsea have been unable to settle on Giroud’s price tag and hence a new swap deal can take centre stage.
The Luiz-Giroud move would allow Arsenal to address two issues at once. The arrival of Luiz would give them an extra man at the back, something the Gunners have been interested in this month. The second and the most important of all is that it would allow Chelsea to loan out Batshuayi thereby leaving Arsenal free to land Aubameyang. As for Chelsea, however, Antonio Conte might not be pleased with the idea of losing another centre-back despite having been at loggerheads with Luiz since last year.
The Italian’s three-man back system would mean that Luiz’s departure would leave Chelsea desperately short on numbers, something Chelsea have already risked this season by allowing a mass exodus back in the summer. Turning our attention to Arsenal, it can be stated that Olivier Giroud is possibly the most underrated striker in the league.
The Frenchman has improved leaps and bounds since his early days and is one the best number nines in the league now in terms of hold-up play and linking up with his teammates. Wenger knows and appreciates the importance of Giroud in the league and could be unwilling to lose his hitman to a direct rival.
Finally, for Arsenal, the case for Luiz would be a gamble any given day. If football players were allotted fictional character roles for Halloween, the ideal outfit for David Luiz would be Robert Loius Stevenson’s famous character Dr Henry Jekyll. Dr Jekyll and his alternative personality Edward Hyde comprise of two different characters of the same person, something Luiz is guilty of with his football.
The unpredictable Brazilian has been blessed with an abundance of talent but harnessing it on a daily basis remains a matter of major dilemma for him. On his day, Luiz is not just a defender who can wall the goal with incessant ease but also storm into the opposition half and unleash a screamer into the back of the net. However, on his off days, he is best described by Gary Neville as a “PlayStation defender”.
It remains to be seen what happens in the next 24 hours but this deal, despite all its traction, is something both managers can do without, given the repercussions of the transfers.
