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Across two silverware-filled spells at Chelsea, David Luiz made almost 250 appearances for the club and played his part in the Blues winning the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League.

Yet not long after signing a new contract in 2019, and only weeks after starting Chelsea’s 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final, the Brazilian defender completed an £8 million move to the Gunners.

The reason behind that striking switch across London, despite having only just put pen to paper on a new deal, was straightforward: Chelsea had appointed his former team-mate Frank Lampard as manager.

Luiz had only recently turned 30 when Lampard, after his spell in charge of Derby County, was given the top job at Stamford Bridge. But age was not the issue for Luiz, who is still playing at 39 for Cypriot side Pafos.

“I was already over 30 and had renewed my contract with Chelsea,” Luiz told FourFourTwo. “No-one had ever broken the club policy of renewing for two years after the age of 30, and I renewed for two years.

“Then after two months, I went to Arsenal. It was because of the decision to bring Frank Lampard in as manager. In pre-season, I could already see that the way he was going to play was not going to make me happy.

“At that age, I thought, ‘I want to enjoy the game in the way I play it’, so it was better to leave.”

For Luiz, it was a choice based on principle.

“There are two kinds of workers in life,” he continued. “Those who work to protect themselves and the job, and those who want to do something different. In any company, 90 per cent protect the job, but I want to be part of the 10 per cent.

“It would have been easy to stay quietly at Chelsea, but I am not like that. So I sat down with Frank Lampard and said, ‘I want to leave – the way you are going to play will not be good for me, and the way I would play in your system will not be good for you either’.”

A year after playing his last match for Chelsea against Arsenal in the Europa League final, Luiz found himself in another twist of fate.

“Life is so funny – later that season, the FA Cup final was between Arsenal and Chelsea. I left after telling the manager I did not think his philosophy would suit me, that maybe it would not work to win anything, and then at the end of the season the final is against him.

“So if I won, in theory I was right. If I lost, I was not. Thank God, we managed to win, and I was very respectful in the way I behaved, not celebrating, and respecting the history I built at Chelsea.”