David Luiz: Does he have a future at Chelsea?

David Luiz

David Luiz hasn’t had a good season so far. The Brazilian defender lost his regular starting place to Gary Cahill due to poor form and has been dogged with injuries over the last two weeks. Rumours of his imminent departure have already began doing the rounds and despite the fact that Luiz himself has clearly stated that he isn’t worried about what the press say, the fact is his future doesn’t look that great at the moment.

Luiz is a rarity in English football; a ball-playing defender who doesn’t defend conventionally. Even though such defenders aren’t exactly new to football, the fact that English defenders have always chosen to sit back and take the safety-first option means that Luiz is seen as a defensive liabilty because he likes taking risks. That isn’t exactly true. Luiz can defend very well and also has the ability to single-handedly build attacks from the back, something that is somewhat undervalued by English football experts.

While he isn’t a bad defender by any stretch of the imagination, he can blow hot and cold. He was excellent for large parts of last season but has lost his way again this season. One can argue that he tries too hard sometimes and ends up over-committing himself but the fact of the matter is that the type of mistakes he sometimes makes shouldn’t me made by someone at his level.

That has been the problem for the Brazilian this season. He tends to end up over-committing himself and makes a mistake more often than not. While his effort can rarely be faulted, his over-enthusiasm leads to schoolboy errors. Nevertheless, that is something that can be worked on even now. He is capable of performing well consistently, as was evidenced by his form last season. Not only was he a rock at the back, he also started attacks on several occasions.

What Mourinho needs to work on is removing his erratic tendancies. The talent is all there but his enthusiasm often sees him losing his head and doing something stupid. His ability on the ball is top-notch and he has a brilliant perception of the game which means that he is able to intercept opposition attacks before they get too dangerous. It isn’t as far fetched as some would think, and if the Special One can do this, Luiz will be ranked among the best defenders in the world.

To answer the question posed at the beginning, it seems highly unlikely that Luiz will be sold. The two clubs reportedly interested in him are Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Mourinho would never in his wildest dreams sanction the transfer of any player to Barcelona and he he would most certainly not look to sell his players to a rival manager (Pep Guardiola), no matter how much money is being offered. There is also the small matter of Luiz being a favourite with the higher-ups at Chelsea and the fact that there would be very few replacements available in the current transfer market. All these factors considered, the sale of David Luiz seems highly unlikely and unless he really loses form, he most definitely has a future at Chelsea.