Arsenal should make ‘serial winner’ David Luiz captain, says former Gunner Paul Merson

Centre-back joined north London club from Chelsea this summer for a fee of £8million

Alex Pattle
Tuesday 24 September 2019 15:03 BST
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Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has said that David Luiz should be made captain of the north London club.

Merson, who played for the Gunners between 1985 and 1997, criticised Arsenal manager Unai Emery for not yet naming a captain this season, and believes new recruit Luiz is the best option.

“The worrying thing for me is I heard the manager say he’s going to have five captains, which tells me he has no idea what his team is,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“Unai Emery’s been there a year-and-a-half. He’s got to have five captains, because he doesn’t have a clue what his best team is. He hasn’t got a clue. The good teams are the ones who play virtually the same team every week, but with Arsenal you don’t know who it’ll be from week to week.

“David Luiz has got to be captain, he’s a serial winner.

“People have a go at him, because one week he’ll be a two-out-of-ten and the next a nine-out-of-ten, but he’s going to play every week.”

Luiz, 32, joined the Gunners from Chelsea this summer for a fee of £7 million, following the arrival of new manager and former Blue Frank Lampard.

The move brought an end to the Brazil centre-back’s second spell with Chelsea, whom he first joined in 2011.

Merson also tipped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the role of Arsenal captain.

The Gabon international has already scored seven goals in seven appearances in all competitions so far this season.

“I’m not the greatest lover of a forward being the captain, but Aubameyang’s another one,” Merson said.

“Those front three should pick themselves straight away and you go from there – they’ll play every week if they’re fit.”

Arsenal scraped past Aston Villa 3-2 at the Emirates on Sunday, coming from 2-1 down to win the Premier League clash with 10 men after Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off.

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