Chelsea are not able to buy but they certainly can sell, which is more than enough for the deadline day rumour mill to wrap its tendrils around the Blues. David Luiz to Arsenal? What’s greater than hope?
Talk about too good to check. L’Equipe is peddling the rumour that Chelsea and Arsenal are locked in intense negotiations for a deadline day move from west London to north London for David Luiz. Perhaps Gary Cahill signing with Crystal Palace earlier in the week and that trolltastic video of Laurent Koscielny stripping off his Arsenal kit to reveal his new Bordeaux kit drove home to the Gunners just how much they desperately need a centre-back in his early 30s, preferably one with a Blue heritage.
Let’s start off by suspending all disbelief. If Marina Gronovskaia signed David Luiz to the over-30 two-year extension only to sell him at the price appropriate to a player with two years left on his deal to a desperate club on deadline day, her name will forever be in a class with Steve Jobs, Carl Icahn, J.P. Morgan (the man, not the institution). Business schools will teach her actions and celebrate her name for generations.
Well, holy hell. As I’m writing this, Matt Law of The Telegraph – who, we must point out, has gambled with his credibility (and lost a few times) throughout the preseason – tweeted that his sources are confirming L’Equipe’s report that Luiz refused to train as he tries to force the move.
For all of Luiz’s well-documented attitude problems (surpassed only by his attentional problems), this is not much in character for Luiz. He showed no sign of dissent or dissatisfaction during preseason, played regularly and is in line for the starting XI at least until Antonio Rudiger returns.
Unless he isn’t. Frank Lampard is quite familiar with David Luiz’s defensive lapses. He has seen them as a teammate, as a commentator, as someone who probably watched every Chelsea game since he left and now as a manager.
Lampard acutely knows the risk of playing David Luiz in a four-man defence, the only kind Lampard has used so far with Chelsea. He had a timely reminder of what Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri experienced repeatedly in their combined three years. RB Salzburg scored off a set piece when Luiz stereotypically lost his marker, allowing a free header 10 yards out.
Frank Lampard also relied upon Fikayo Tomori last season at Derby County. Some of this was the Rams’ lack of depth, but Lampard clearly respects and trusts Tomori in his back line. Tomori is in line for a loan, which is a necessary and proper move if he will not play regularly for the Blues this season. But if Luiz leaves, Tomori is right in the mix with Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. That is a quartet for the future, whereas Luiz – from the moment of his two-year extension – has been a needless anchor into the past.
My colleague Nate Hofmann wrote an excellent piece last month about how much the relationship between David Luiz and Frank Lampard will shape this season. The one possibility Nate did not consider was Luiz throwing a strop four days before the Premier League opener and one day before deadline day.
Antonio Conte could not be reached for comment about Luiz’s potential walk-out, but he would probably just chuckle that charming chuckle of his.
If it is true, Luiz deserves the Danny Drinkwater treatment that Drinkwater did not deserve, the Diego Costa treatment that Conte probably wanted to impose but could not (until Chelsea sold Costa to a team that couldn’t register him for six months) and the classic Florent Malouda maneuver.
Better yet, let Marina Gronovskaia confirm her place in the business pantheon. If she can execute this deal for anything close to a break-even price before signing off on a loan for Fikayo Tomori, avoid the rush and name a stand after her now.