ARSENAL are ‘unlikely’ to renew David Luiz’s contract, according to reports.
The Brazilian was handed a one-year extension last summer, after Mikel Arteta was impressed by his influence over younger players within his squad.
Luiz, 33, has remained a regular this term, making 29 appearances in all competitions.
But according to Football.London, the ex-Chelsea defender is not in the Gunners’ plans for next year – with William Saliba set to return to the fold.
The Frenchman, 20, was left unhappy in North London, after failing to make a single appearance during the first half of the season.
But, following a productive loan spell at Nice, Arteta is to ‘take another look’ at Saliba when he returns to London Colney in the summer.
And while Saliba has been out of sight, he and other Gunners out on loan, have not been out of mind.
Arteta, 38, said: “We’re having meetings very often to assess what they’re doing.
“Obviously we’re getting all the information and watching their games because I want to keep a very close eye on what they’re doing.
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“We were talking yesterday for example with Ben Knapper, who is our loan manager. He is in charge of monitoring everything we are doing, and we are in contact with the players.
“Let’s see. It’s good news that they are playing and it’s good news that they have the possibility to have a lot of minutes because that’s going to give us a much better perception of where they are and how we can use them.”
Saliba has made 16 appearances for Nice.
Another forgotten man set to return to the fold is Greek centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos, who has outlined his preference to stay at Arsenal following his loan spell at Stuttgart.
Calum Chambers has also re-emerged as a viable option at the back in recent weeks.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
