David Luiz reveals Chelsea staff pleaded with him to return after Arsenal move

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 21 March 2020

Arsenal defender David Luiz admits that he struggled in his early stages at the club due to the emotional aspect of leaving their London rivals Chelsea.

Arsenal centre-back David Luiz has revealed that he struggled in the early stages of his career at the club following his move from London rivals Chelsea.

The Brazil international made 248 appearances for the Blues over two different spells before his surprise switch to Arsenal last summer, joining the Gunners for around £8m.

Luiz has quickly established himself as key member of the Arsenal side too, making 32 appearances so far this season, but he admits that it took him time to settle in at the Emirates Stadium.

"I can be honest with you, the first three days or week was not easy to understand all the emotions or how I was feeling, because everybody knows my history with Chelsea. I had this connection with everyone at the club. It was so massive and big and I was missing every single one," Luiz told OTRO.

"Every text message I was receiving, people were saying: 'Come back, come back, come back, come back, we are here for you'. I give you the example of a gentleman there who is 75 years old. He was taking breakfast with me at the time when he had the opportunity.

"He was texting me: 'I am still waiting for you here to take the breakfast again'. This kind of thing was so difficult for me, because I am someone that sees the heart as the most important thing. But then after that, in the professional way, I was saying: 'It is a new moment for you. It is another big thing for you to do. Maybe if you stay in the comfort zone it is not going to be the best thing for you?'

"If you look at my history of life I was never wishing to stay in the comfort zone. It was a top decision. [Arsenal] are a big club. I want to make this club improve and to shine again. The first days were difficult but after that I started to adapt. Now I am so happy and I want to do big, big things with Arsenal."

Luiz's next Arsenal outing will be his 500th career club appearance.