In one of the more surprising moves of deadline day, Chelsea re-signed Paris Saint-Germain defender David Luiz for an undisclosed fee, reportedly worth £34 million.
The 29-year-old Brazilian international penned a three-year contract with the Blues, and speaking about his return to west London, revealed his delight at being given the opportunity to win further silverware with the club:
“I’m here because I have ambition to play for a big club and when you play for a big club you need to think about winning every single match… I am very happy to be here again. It is fantastic to have a second opportunity to play for this club, I love this club, that’s why I’m here. Let’s try to continue the nice history with a lot of joy and try to get success.
The History
Luiz began his youth career at Sao Paulo in his native Brazil, before joining Vitoria at the age of 14. It was there where he was afforded his professional debut in 2006 and, after making 26 appearances, scoring one goal, he signed on loan for Benfica in January 2007.
Luiz played 10 league matches during the second half of the 2006/07 season, and impressed enough to earn a permanent move ahead of the 2007/08 campaign.
The Brazilian struggled to gain a regular starting berth during his first two full seasons with the Portuguese giants, with his big breakthrough campaign coming in 2009/10.
Luiz’ stock continued to rise at the beginning of the 2011/12 season, and having played 130 matches in all competitions for Benfica, scoring six goals and registering nine assists, the defender joined Chelsea in January 2011 for €25 million.
The defender took little time to settle at Stamford Bridge and, during the 2011/12 season, played a crucial role in the club winning the Champions League for the first time.
Following Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea in the summer of 2013, Luiz found himself falling down the pecking order, and after making 142 appearances in all competitions over a three-and-a-half year spell, scoring 12 goals and providing 10 assists, he was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for around £50 million.
Over the past two seasons, Luiz has been an integral part of PSG’s success in Ligue 1, picking up two consecutive winners medals, and playing 89 matches in total, which yielded eight goals and four assists.
After playing twice for Brazil at Under 20 level, Luiz made his senior debut in a 2-0 win over the United States in August 2010. He currently has 55 caps to his name, with three goals and three assists, although he has recently been out of favour.
The Prospects
Having been linked with the likes of Juventus pair Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini in addition to Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly Luiz’ return has raised more than a few eyebrows.
With the ageing John Terry nearing the end of his career, it was a position where the new Chelsea boss had clearly pinpointed as an area which needed strengthening, although with no European matches to contend with this season, the need for depth in the position is not perhaps as great as it would normally be.
Although Conte preferred a three-man backline during his time in charge for Juventus and Italy, the Blues have started the season well operating with a 4-1-4-1 formation. The addition of Luiz certainly brings about the possibility of using a three-man defence, as does the signing of Marcos Alonso, who is comfortable playing as a full-back, wing-back or central defender in a back-three, but it remains to be seen whether that’s something Conte will look to change.
Conte’s arrival at Stamford Bridge has resulted in Chelsea conceding fewer shots in the box (11) than any other side during the opening three Gameweeks though. While that may be in part due to the quality of opposition the Blues have faced so far, the early evidence suggests the Italian will oversee one of the stronger defences in the Premier League this season.
It’s also not clear if Luiz will immediately jump ahead of either Terry or Gary Cahill in the pecking order, leaving Fantasy managers with plenty of uncertainty in regards to the exact make up of the Chelsea defence, with Branislav Ivanovic also able to play at centre-back should Conte look to start Alonso at left-back and Cesar Azpilicueta at right-back. There’s also Kurt Zouma to consider once he’s back from injury, though the acqusition of Luiz and Alonso doesn’t bode well for the youngster’s likelihood of starts.
Looking at last season’s underlying statistics, Luiz averaged a clearance every 27.8 minutes, inferior to both Cahill (18) and Terry (22.6), although he did lead the way in terms of interceptions, managing one every 34.8 minutes, considerably better than Terry (53.9) and Cahill (56.4).
All three players have historically offered a decent goal threat, with Luiz averaging a shot every 139.2 minutes last term, slightly better than Cahill (160.4) and in particular Terry (210.1).
The statistics suggest there’s little to split the trio, though, both in terms of CBI and potential goal threat, so it’s interesting to see that Luiz has been handed a price tag of 6.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), the same as Cahill, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic and Alonso, with Terry cheaper at 5.5.
The problem for FPL bosses is that there is too much uncertainty over who will be the regular starters, and whether Conte will consider using a three-man backline.
With a tough upcoming schedule (swa, LIV, ars, hul, LEI, MUN), it certainly appears best to stay away from the Chelsea defence for the time being, allowing us to sit back and ascertain their most secure defensive options ahead of a kind scheduel from Gameweek 15 onwards.
