David Luiz has admitted he was ‘very happy’ at Chelsea before making the ‘quick decision’ to join Arsenal on transfer deadline day in August.

The Brazilian’s £8million move surprised supporters and divided opinion, but he felt compelled to take on a new challenge at the end of his Chelsea ‘cycle’.

Luiz featured regularly under Maurizio Sarri, but new boss Frank Lampard arrived with a plan to promote more academy players to the first team, authorising the sale of the veteran defender hours before the window closed.

The centre-back had won Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League trophies during his second spell at Chelsea, and Luiz has revealed he had doubts about repeating his success at Arsenal.

‘I was always very happy at Chelsea,’ the 32-year-old told ESPN Brazil.

‘And then the understanding of knowing that my cycle was over, even though I thought it wasn’t going to end that way, in a quick decision.

‘I decided to leave Chelsea before I even had the door open at Arsenal.

‘I know that Arsenal weren’t in a great moment, they had a weight on their defence, (when) I go there I’ll have to pay the restaurant bill without having eaten.

‘But I’m going because I want something new for my life, I want to learn.’

“It wasn’t easy at first. Not only [in terms] of adaptation, but about taking the criticism, the sadness of many Chelsea fans for not understanding my personal decisions.

‘My respect and love for Chelsea has always been true.’

The Brazil international first arrived at Stamford Bridge from Benfica in January 2011, going on to win the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League before joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2014.

He returned to London two years later, most notably notably leading Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2017.

Luiz made 248 Blues appearances in total, scoring 18 goals and winning six trophies.