Luiz bought into Arsenal’s potential after difference of opinion with Chelsea boss Lampard

David Luiz says he bought into the “potential” at Arsenal after experiencing a difference of opinion with Frank Lampard during a “man to man” chat with the Chelsea boss.

The Brazilian defender crossed London during the summer transfer window, trading life in the west of the English capital for that in the north.

He arrived at Emirates Stadium after three years back at Stamford Bridge during a second spell with the Blues.

Luiz had committed to an extended stay with Chelsea, but a change in the dugout ultimately edged him towards the exits and a new challenge with the Gunners.

“Me and Lampard, we had honest conversations. Man to man, me and him,” the 32-year-old centre-half told The Telegraph.

“His ideas of football were different to mine. We just agreed: ‘OK, we move on’. In an honest way, in a mature way.

“We played together, we won together. We won the Champions League, the Europa League, everything together. It was done in a mature way.”

Luiz needed little convincing that Arsenal was the right destination for him, with the South American buying into the vision of Unai Emery and ambition of a team hungry for success.

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He added: “The more you win, the more you believe, the more it becomes easier.

“It starts to become automatic. You know what you have to do, you know the mentality. It is not about the beginning, it is about the end.

“Last season everybody was killing Chelsea, killing [Maurizio] Sarri. In the end, we won a title. Everybody was speaking about other clubs and in the end they did not win anything. It is about the end.

“Arsenal was always a big club. The club is always going to be big. Of course, in the last few years, because the club is so big everybody expects more titles. This is natural.

“I came here because I see they have the potential to do that, to fight for that. This is my mentality, this is my ambition, this is what I want in this club.

“We have the potential. We have talented players, experienced players, a team with quality, a club where they give us all the conditions to fight. We have amazing support. What more do we need?”

Luiz penned a two-year contract with Arsenal upon his arrival and believes he has many more years at the top level ahead of him.

He is, however, planning to move into coaching at some stage.

“I want to be a coach when I am 40,” said the flamboyant defender.

“Before that, I want to play football as much as I can, at a high level. And that is going to be until I am 36, 37, 38.

“I work with my body every day. I have people working with me for more than five hours a day. This season my physical numbers are better than when I was 28.”