David Luiz: Arsenal defender signs one-year deal with Gunners, who give contracts to Pablo Mari, Cedric Soares & Dani Ceballos
David Luiz has signed a new one-year contract with Arsenal, who have also handed out deals to Pablo Mari, Cedric Soares and Dani Ceballos.
Luiz was out-of-contract at the end of June and, although he endured a horror show in Arsenal's 3-0 defeat at Man City last week, Mikel Arteta had backed him to get a new deal at the club.
The 33-year-old Brazilian defender has been prone to errors and red cards during his time at the Emirates, but Arteta has enough faith in him to keep him around for another 12 months.
Meanwhile, the Gunners will make loan moves for Mari and Soares, from Flamengo and Southampton respectively, into "long term" permanent deals once the next transfer window opens.
Arsenal, who sit in tenth in the Premier League after successive defeats in the restart, have also extened Ceballos' loan move from Real Madrid until the end of the season.
Arsenal technical director Edu told the club website: "I am really happy that we will have these players in our squad for the future. They have been part of the long-term technical plan Mikel and I have developed. They bring the right balance to our squad.
"David is a really important player for us. He has played most of our matches this season and has been important for the team. His passing, his communication with the team on and off the pitch. He helps everyone.
"With Pablo we're all disappointed he got injured at Manchester City. Since Mikel arrived here he was asking for a central defender who was left-footed.
"We were really pleased with Pablo - his behaviour, the way he is training, his mentality and his quality. Unfortunately, he has that injury but of course we are really happy to keep him for the future.
"Cedric is also going to be an important player. He has been unlucky with the injuries but he is close to being ready and gives us more strength in the right-back position.
"We're also pleased Dani will finish the season here. He is making a good contribution and we look forward to him having a strong finish to the season."
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