Kia Joorabchian - the agent of Arsenal centre-back David Luiz - has revealed that there is a "very high" chance that the Brazilian defender will put pen to paper on a new contract at the Emirates Stadium.
It was revealed last week in the national media that Luiz was poised to leave the North London club this summer, less than a year after joining the Gunners from Chelsea in an £8million deal.
It was claimed that Luiz had put pen to paper on a two-year deal upon his arrival at the Emirates Stadium last summer but football.london understands that the former Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain star signed a one-year deal with an option of a further 12 months.
Now, Luiz's agent has confirmed that the defender did, indeed, sign a one-year deal with an option of an extra year, but the option to activate that has since expired.
Nevertheless, Joorabchian is confident that Luiz will sign a new deal with Mikel Arteta's side, insisting that his client is "very happy" in the red corner of North London.
"He's very happy at Arsenal," Joorabchian told Sky Sports. "He has an extremely good relationship with both the coach and the sporting director. He has good relationships all throughout the club, right up to the owner. He respects everybody.
"Arsenal had an option, which expired. We also had a pandemic [coronavirus]. So the option expired in the middle of the pandemic.
"We are all very aware of that situation and we are all trying, very slowly, to get back to this 'new normal'.
"These contract situations, these renewals, if he stays or if he goes... will all sort themselves out when we get back to some kind of 'new normal'.
"David will sit down with Arsenal before the season begins, have his conversations and they will both decide if he will stay or not. That will come before the season starts. The chances are very high [of Luiz being at Arsenal next season].
"There is no desire to leave."
In recent weeks, Luiz has been linked with a return to Portuguese outfit Benfica, with reports claiming that the 33-year-old has set his heart on finishing his career with the Liga Nos giants.
However, Joorabchian has dismissed those claims, insisting that those comments were taken out of context.
Joorabchian added: "What he said was, 'if the opportunity arose in the future - before I retire - I could go back to Benfica and finish my career where I started it'. But he never mentioned about wanting to go back to Benfica now."
