Sarri confirms new round of contract talks between Chelsea and David Luiz

David Luiz is loving life under Maurizio Sarri, that much is clear. The veteran center back, who recently celebrated his 32nd birthday as if it were his 12th — classic Geezer — has been reborn this season, and has been one of the first names on the team sheet from preseason on. Only Kepa, Azpilicueta, Kanté, and Jorginho have played more minutes.

But one thing that isn’t all that clear is his contract situation. When he returned to Chelsea in 2016, to be reinvented as the sweeper in Conte’s back-three, he signed only a three-year deal. That contract will expire in June.

There have been some talks about an extension, but apparent disagreements over length (Chelsea only offer 1-year extensions to players over 30 by rule) and compensation (David Luiz wants higher wages due to the short-term nature of the contract) mean that as things stand, after the remaining 3-4 games this season and the one charity friendly against New England in America, David Luiz will be a free agent.

David does want to stay and Sarri does want him to stay as well, so perhaps an agreement can yet be found. As Sarri revealed after last night’s 1-1 draw in Frankfurt, wherein David Luiz hit the crossbar with a free kick, a fresh round of talks between player and club were held just last week — making the rare free midweek count!

Unfortunately, Sarri doesn’t know (or doesn’t want to say) what the outcome was.

“I don’t know on David Luiz, I know that he had a meeting four or five days ago, but then my mind was on this match. I didn’t ask him the result of it.”

-Maurizio Sarri; source: FourFourTwo

Now, obviously, I’d want David Luiz to stay forever, but considering the key role he plays in Sarri’s tactical schemes, if the coach stays, then David probably should, too. Andreas Christensen may be ready to step up (again), but Antonio Rüdiger will be coming off of major knee surgery and may even miss the start of next season. The three-man rotation for the two center back spots had been working quite well in the second-half of the season, and that would be a fine arrangement for next season as well.

Sign him up!