EXCLUSIVE
David Luiz was shocked at Arsenal’s lack of ambition before Mikel Arteta changed everything
David Luiz says Arsenal lacked a winning mentality when he first made the move from Chelsea in 2019.
Signed by Unai Emery, the Brazilian defender spent two years at the Emirates Stadium, where he featured in 73 games in all competitions.
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An £8million arrival, Luiz joined the Gunners alongside Kieran Tierney on deadline day ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.
Following a stuttering start to the season where Arsenal won just once in nine games, Emery was dismissed in November.
Arteta, who retired at the Emirates as club captain in 2016, returned to north London where he was appointed in what remains his first managerial role.
And Luiz has credited Arteta for bringing ambition back to Arsenal, with the pair winning the FA Cup and Community Shield together, where the former scored in the penalty shootout victory over Liverpool in the annual curtain-raiser.
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Speaking to talkSPORT's Jim White, Luiz was asked what Arsenal means to him, to which he said: "A lot, because I went there - it was my decision.
"A club which had a lot of potential, but it was missing a lot of hunger to win titles.
"I remember my first meeting with the players and with everybody, we were talking about our goals for the season - nobody was talking about winning the Premier League.
"I said, 'Stop! We are just at the beginning of the season, the first thing is you need to have ambition, you need to think about the title!'
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"And then after that, it was the top four. After one year I started to understand, a club that was not used to winning for a long time, so they started to not believe a lot.
"And then came Arteta, and Arteta changed a lot of things in the club and he started to make everybody believe the process.
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"The club got the right mentality again as they had under Arsene Wenger, they got it in a good way.
"And now I'm happy because I see many young players that I was trying to help in the beginning, to believe that at the start of your career, you have to win big things.
"I'm happy for them because they are now thinking in this way - at the end of the day it was a great moment in my career."
Pressed as to whether Arsenal can end their 20-year wait for a league title this term, Luis remarked: "I think they can do it.
"This season, they're going to be more close than last season [finishing second by five points] - especially after the experience of last season."
But he ultimately conceded that Manchester City are his favourites to win the Premier League for an historic fourth time in a row.