It's no secret that David Luiz was not Chelsea's first-choice option to bolster their central defence. The club had pursued a range of center-backs, most notably Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly and Milan's Alessio Romagnoli, without success. They were now stuck. Indeed, but for Antonio Conte signing off on David Luiz in the last 72 hours of the transfer window, this deal might never have happened.
On Tuesday night, 24 hours before the transfer window shut, Chelsea had all but given up. PSG were refusing to budge and saying it was not about money; he simply wasn't for sale. Needing a warm body in any case, they made contingency plans at Stamford Bridge and prepared to take Aymen Abdennour on loan from Valencia.