Arsenal boss Unai Emery has admitted that the club are trying to sign one more centre-back before the transfer window closes on Thursday.
The Gunners have been extremely busy this summer, breaking their transfer record by signing Nicolas Pepe from Lille for £72million, as well as bringing in Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba - who returned to St Etienne on a season-long loan - and Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid on loan.
Apart from Saliba, however, Emery and Raul Sanllehi have not strengthened a defence that was worse than all but two other teams that finished in the top ten last season.
Arsenal have been linked with a number of new centre-back signings, including Daniele Rugani from Juventus and Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig.
However, Arsenal sources insist that the club are not working on deals for Rugani and Upamecano, two players that have long been on their radar.
Now another name has stunningly come to the fore right before the transfer window shuts - David Luiz.
French publication l'Equipe have reported that the Chelsea centre-back has refused to train with the Blues in an attempt to force through a move to the Emirates.
It is an astonishing development for a player who was an important part of the Blues side last season and signed a new contract at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Sky Sports News ahead of the new season, Emery said: "We want our supporters to be happy, to be the best team with the best players.
"We tried to sign some important and expensive players for our defence, but we cannot do that and other second line players don't make us really, really convinced to sign them.
"We have centre-backs, we also have one young one in Dino Mavropanos, with everyone speaking about him and how he can improve, and Rob Holding, but if we can in the last day we are going to try to sign another centre-back with the capacity to help us, so we can have a good balance with attacking and defending players."
