Emmanuel Petit labels Arsenal ‘clueless’ for extending David Luiz contract and tells players: ‘Shut the f*** up’

Former Premier League title-winner has launched a fierce verbal attack on his former club after they re-signed Luiz for another year despite his ‘disasterclass’ performance last week

Arsenal great Emmanuel Petit has branded the club “clueless” after defender David Luiz was handed a new one-year contract, and launched a foul-mouthed tirade against the current squad following their back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Brighton.

Petit claimed that Luiz should “say a prayer of thanks to the Arsenal directors” every morning when he wakes up, with the frustration of the Brazilian’s short time at the Emirates boiling over after last week’s apparent ‘disasterclass’.

The former Chelsea centre-back came off the bench to replace the injured Pablo Mari against Manchester City, only to be at fault for both goals and earn himself a red card for conceding a penalty on Riyad Mahrez inside 25 minutes of coming on the field.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the month, Arsenal faced a decision on whether to extend his contract by an additional year or not, having failed to impress since being signed from the Blues last summer.

Arsenal left it until the last opportunity to sign Luiz to a new deal, with the announcement proving a surprise to many supporters who would rather see the back of him to open the door for a younger alternative. The new deal was part of a four-fold announcement that saw Mari and Cedric Soares sign permanent deals despite barely featuring during their loan spells - the former is out injured until November and the latter is yet to play a minute for Arsenal due to injury - while Dani Ceballos extended his loan deal by an extra year despite recently expressing his desire to prove himself at parent club Real Madrid.

The news infuriated Petit, with the former France international letting his feelings be known in no uncertain terms that he is not a fan of Luiz’s, nor that of the current Arsenal hierarchy.

“David Luiz hasn't been a proper footballer for about three years,' Petit told Paddy Power. “But I'm not surprised that he has been given a new contract at Arsenal, because I've been very disappointed in relation to the club's activity in the transfer market.

“If I was David Luiz, of course I would sign a new deal and I would also say a prayer of thanks to the Arsenal directors every time I wake up. Even when he last won the Premier League with Chelsea, he's not the same player any more. This guy has lost something.

“To be honest, it's a joke. Find some proper defenders. Are you telling me there are no young talented defenders on the market? I just don't get it.”

David Luiz was sent off for conceding a second-half penalty against City (EPA)

He added: “Does anyone think the Arsenal executives and directors know what they're doing on the football side of things? For the last few years they have been splashing out on the transfer market - and have brought in some decent players - but I don't know what their target or project for the future is.

“It's far worse now than in the last years under (Arsene) Wenger. What is the point of being one of the richest clubs on the planet with no reason or vision behind it?”

However, Luiz reserved his harshest criticism for the squad as a whole. Having witnessed the comprehensive 3-0 defeat against City last week, any hopes of an immediate recovery was dashed on Saturday when Arsenal saw a 1-0 lead end in a 2-1 defeat at Brighton.

The match was marred at the final whistle by a clash between the two teams, with midfielder Matteo Guendouzi lucky to escape disciplinary action after he grabbed match-winner Neal Maupay by the throat.

Guendouzi will not face retrospective action for grabbing Brighton striker Maupay (Getty)

Petit is no stranger to emotions boiling over on the pitch, having been a part of the Arsenal side that came to be known for its physicality thanks to the likes of Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams and Martin Keown, but he believes the players’ frustrations should have been aimed at themselves after another below-par performance - something that has become a regular feature of the club in recent years.

“Arsenal look like an average team with no spirit, with no anger or pride,” Petit explained. “I saw them against Brighton at the end of the game, trying to fight Neal Maupay, but that made me laugh.

“You make me laugh, guys, honestly. Shut the f*** up and do the right thing on the pitch.

“Against Brighton I was so p***ed off about the behaviour of the players that I wished I could be in the dressing room to say to someone, ‘Shut the f*** up, who the f*** do you think you are?’ No one is doing that in the team. There are no leaders, no characters.

“They were winning 1-0 away from home, knowing every point is vital for European qualification, and you let the game go like this.

“Then at full-time they go to Maupay to blame him for what happened to Bernd Leno, but things like that happen in every game.

“They're trying to avoid taking their own responsibility. I just want to tell them one thing: fight during the match. Do your job.

“I wish Mikel Arteta good luck because I think he's a quality manager but just like Unai Emery and Wenger, what is he supposed to do with these players?”

Arsenal face an important week if they hope to get their faint European hopes back on track, with Thursday’s trip to Southampton set to be followed by a pivotal tie at Sheffield United on Sunday, where defeat in both could see the club drop to as low as 14th in the Premier League table.