Chelsea were surprised when Arsenal made their move to sign David Luiz last summer, according to Tony Cascarino.
The Brazilian centre-back had signed a new two-year deal at Stamford Bridge in May 2019, but left to join Arsenal three months later in an £8 million deal.
Luiz helped Chelsea to win the Europa League and finish third in the Premier League last season, but the Blues were happy to part company with the experienced centre-back, with Frank Lampard placing his faith in Fikayo Tomori, Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen.
And former Blues striker Cascarino revealed that his old side could not believe their luck when Arsenal came calling.
"David Luiz," he wrote in his column in The Times when asked to name the worst signing of last summer.
"When Arsenal bought the Brazil defender in the summer for £8m I know that Chelsea’s reaction was: ‘Wow, they’ve taken our poorest defender’.
"You have that familiar image of him chasing after a forward who has got behind him: opponents always know that the 32-year-old will give them space by wandering out of position.
"He is a fine footballer who sprays the ball around well but for a player with so much experience his defending is not good enough."
Chelsea's decision to sell Luiz looks like being vindicated with the defender set to leave Arsenal after only one season in north London.
At the time, it was widely reported that Luiz signed a two-year deal when he joined the Gunners, but football.london understands the centre-back signed a 12-month contract with an option for a further season.
At present, that option has not been activated, leaving Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta with the prospect of letting one of his key defenders leave at the end of the season unless an agreement can be found.
At the beginning of the month, Luiz hinted that he would be open to finishing his career at Benfica, where he played for four seasons between 2007 and 2011.
"I always said that I would like to end my career at Benfica," he told Brazilian television network SporTV.
"I love Benfica. My dream is to step on the pitch of Estadio da Luz in their colours."
