Arsenal have confirmed that David Luiz has signed a one-year extension while Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares will join the club permanently on long-term deals.
Arsenal have made an official statement to confirm that they have extended the stays of four players. David Luiz has signed a one-year extension, while Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares are going to join the Gunners on permanent deals when the summer transfer window opens. Meanwhile, Dani Ceballos has extended his loan stint till the end of the season.
Luiz joined Arsenal last summer in a shock move from Chelsea, as the Gunners sought to add some much-needed experience to their back-line. While the Brazilian has been a regular for the north Londoners this season, his error-prone ways have set them back quite a bit, with the latest instance being his abysmal showing against Manchester City last week.
Luiz, though, has still been defended a great deal by Mikel Arteta, who had been hoping to sign the veteran Brazilian defender on an extension. As for Pablo Mari, the former Manchester City man joined Arsenal in the January transfer window on a loan deal till the end of the season and after an elongated settling in period, he made quite an impression.
In fact, despite playing just three games for the Arsenal first-team, the 26-year-old seemed to have made a definitive impression on Arteta, with reports suggesting that Arsenal wanted to sign him on a permanent deal. Perhaps, the move could have been driven by their financial difficulties, although Mari did look impressive in the little time he spent on the pitch.
Meanwhile, Cedric Soares is yet to even take the field for the Arsenal first-team after joining them from Southampton on a loan deal in January. Injury issues have plagued the Portuguese defender’s time at the Emirates, although he now seems to be nearing full fitness.
The deal to sign him seems a bit odd, though, considering he has not even featured once for the north Londoners. Nevertheless, Arsenal have now signed him on a long-term deal, with Cedric set to be Hector Bellerin’s backup for the foreseeable future.
Arsenal, meanwhile, also confirmed that Dani Ceballos has signed a short-term extension on his loan deal and will stay put at the club till the end of the season. There have been reports that the Premier League heavyweights want to sign him permanently, but it remains to be seen if they can agree a move for him with Real Madrid.
For now, though, a triple agreement for defensive trio David Luiz, Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares has been confirmed, with Dani Ceballos set to remain at the club till the end of the season.
