David Luiz, Cedric and Pablo Mari to All Sign New Arsenal Contracts

Arsenal defenders David Luiz, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari are all said to have signed new deals with the club.


Luiz, much maligned for his performance in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, has signed a one-year extension, while both Mari and Cedric, the latter of whom is yet to make a first team appearance for the club, have penned four-year deals, according to the Athletic's David Ornstein.


Addressing the contract renewals on Tuesday ahead of his side's game against Southampton on Thursday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted the club has been forced into taking action due to the rotten luck they've had with injuries in recent weeks.


“It is very complicated, the timing of it and some of the legal issues that are involved with that,” he said, as quoted by the Evening Standard.


“The club is trying to finalise everything in the next few hours. We have no choice, we have to do it - and even more with the injuries we’ve had.


“So we are trying to resolve this. I am confident that we can do it. I hope so.”


Luiz was lampooned for his performance in the 3-0 Manchester City defeat

Commenting on Cedric's situation, the former midfielder added: “It was the plan from the start [to sign Cedric permanently].


“He’s been so, so unlucky because he was injured when he joined and then he had a fracture in his nose. He hasn’t played at all for us, but again, we think he’s a player that will improve and will help the squad depth. Hopefully we can do it.”


Bernd Leno was the latest casualty in the 2-1 loss at Brighton and is expected to return to training in four to six weeks, while Mari, Gabriel Martinelli, Lucas Torreira and Calum Chambers are all unavailable to Arteta. Luiz remains suspended but Granit Xhaka and Sokratis are back in full training.



Source : 90min