David Luiz says he remains happy at Chelsea and has welcomed the promise of an exciting new era of attacking football at Stamford Bridge with the arrival of Maurizio Sarri into the managerial dugout.
It is a stark change from the end of last season, when the 31-year-old was widely tipped to leave the club where he has spent five-and-a-half seasons after a fallout between himself and the former manager Antonio Conte.
That, along with injury woes, left Luiz a long way from the Chelsea team last year. He made just 17 appearances last season but, with Conte gone, Sarri has started him in both pre-season games and has Luiz committed and optimistic for his future in west London.
“I came back to Chelsea to stay here," Luiz said. "When I took my decision to come back here from Paris it was to win the Premier League and to do something again with Chelsea, so I am very happy here.”
"I love this philosophy. We play high, with a lot of possession of the ball, in a technical way. He’s trying to help us every single day to quickly learn his philosophy, to do our best for Chelsea. You guys know me - I like to be happy, to enjoy my life.
"We have the best job in the world. He came with this idea as a human being, so I think if you’re not happy to do your job it doesn’t matter if you’re a footballer or not. We have to be happy to do our best. A new philosophy always takes time. But it also depends on us.
"We are dedicated every day and doing things every single day in training, especially in this beginning with these friendly games - we are trying to learn quickly. It depends also on us. It is a physical and tactical challenge in pre-season, every single aspect every day, physical, tactical, technical. Football depends on everything. It is not just tactical, it is not just physical, you have to try every single day.
“Yes, it is a challenge for everybody. It is good to have fantastic players, more than just 11. You have many players that can play in the starting 11, so it is a positive challenge for everybody. We are trying to train really hard every single day, double sessions, to learn quickly. It’s not just like that, we’re doing that every single day."
Luiz is hugely respected at Chelsea having made close to 150 appearances in his time at the club, while winning Premier League and the club's first Champions League trophy in the blue shirt.
He has welcomed £57m (€65m/$86m) Jorginho, who signed from Napoli along with Sarri at the beginning of pre-season. Jorginho has quickly established himself as a pivotal player in Sarri's system and Luiz believes that the Brazil born Italy international is 'top class.'
"He’s a fantastic player, I’m so happy to play with him," he added. "He’s top, top class. He always wants the ball, he’s always in good space, always creates a line to pass. He knows already the philosophy of our coach, so I’m so happy to have this kind of player in our team."
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Chelsea followed up their pre-season 1-0 win against Perth Glory with a penalty shootout win over Inter in the International Champions Cup on Saturday.
Luiz has partnered 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu in both of his side's pre-season games so far, with Arsenal coming up next in Dublin. Luiz believes Ampadu has proven that he is already "a man" in his appearances in the Chelsea shirt.
“He’s a fantastic boy, a fantastic player. He’s humble, he has his feet on the ground, he tries to learn every day," Luiz continued. "He’s 17, almost 18 but for me he is already a man playing football, he’s great for me to have this opportunity with this youngster who is already a man.
"I have played with many players, different age, different times of life, so it is great to a player like him here. I try to advise him with many things, I have seen a lot of things in my career have lived a lot of things in my career, so I try to help him in the best way because he deserves the best advice.”