Arsenal make surprise contract decision as details for David Luiz, Mari and Cedric emerge

Arsenal have shored up their defence for next season by handing out deals to David Luiz, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari.

Luiz signed a one year deal last year and was hopeful of staying for another year prior to the season being halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Brazilian is one of the highest-paid players at the club and has the trust of manager Mikel Arteta despite a poor season.

Cedric is yet to make an appearance for Arsenal due to injuries since arriving in January on loan from Southampton.

While Mari looked promising before he sustained a potentially season-ending injury last week against Manchester City.

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Nevertheless, according to The Athletic, Arsenal are keeping hold of all three players after agreeing a new deal with which of them.

Luiz has signed another one year deal while Cedric and Mari have surprisingly been given four-year contracts.

The deadline to agree on deals with players out of contract at the end of this month was at midnight on Wednesday.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Thursday’s clash with Southampton, Arteta had stressed the need for Arsenal to keep Mari and Cedric at the club.

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“He’s been so, so unlucky because he was injured when he joined and then he had a fracture in his nose.

“He hasn’t played at all for us, but again, we think he’s a player that will improve and will help the squad depth. Hopefully we can do it.

“At the moment, just to predict what is going to happen in the transfer window is impossible. You can see one or two clubs doing these sorts of deals, but the rest is really, really quiet.

“As I told you, we have to assess the financial situation that we have, and as well the results and where we finish in the season will dictate whether we have a narrow gap or a bigger gap to do any deals. I think we are going to have to wait another four to six weeks to see what we are able to do.”

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source: express.co.uk