Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn believes that David Luiz should be made captain of the Gunners. The Brazilian controversially left Chelsea to join Arsenal this summer in an £8 million deal. He will help to solidify Unai Emery’s sides defence following the departure of Laurent Koscielny.
The transfer would have tarnished the reputation of Luiz in the eyes of most Chelsea fans in a similar way to how Ashley Cole’s transfer to the Blues from the Gunners during the summer of 2006 would have tarnished the image of the Englishman in the eyes of most Arsenal fans.
Luiz has plenty of experience at the highest level and is a seasoned professional. On paper he does have what it takes to succeed as Arsenal captain, however, qualities on paper do not often match actual ability.
“Emery should make David Luiz his captain for this season,” he told Sportingbet. “He has the ability to be that Tony Adams figure in Arsenal ‘s backline.
“I know he’s new, but that doesn’t worry me at all.
“A captain needs to be someone that’s vocal, someone that’s not scared to make people aware of their responsibilities within a game just because they might upset them for five minutes.”
Luiz should not be made Arsenal captain
He played for Chelsea for many years and helped the club to win one Premier League title as well as the Champions League. After having made almost 250 appearances in all competitions for the Blues across two spells, one would really expect Luiz to have had some sense of loyalty to the Stamford Bridge club. He clearly did not. If he had loyalty, he would have stayed with the club at least until the end of the season. Due to their transfer ban, the Blues have had to make do with using some very young and largely untested players in their first team this season. Frank Lampard in all probability would have wanted to have Luiz in his first-team this season to solidify the back-line.
The absence of the veteran should during the Blues opening day 4-0 Premier League defeat against Manchester United as Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen looked uncertain at the back.
If Luiz was disloyal to Chelsea after so many years, it is unlikely that he will be loyal to Arsenal. They should therefore not make him captain but rather look to someone who is prepared to stay with them for the long-term.
