The agent of Arsenal midfielder Jorginho insists that the former Chelsea ace is ‘calm’ about his fuutre at the Premier League runners-up.
In truth, there is no reason not to be.
Jorginho is only ‘six beautiful months’ – to quote Joao Santos himself – into the one-and-a-half year contract he signed at the Emirates when swapping Chelsea for London rivals Arsenal during the January transfer window.
The Gunners also have the option to extend Jorginho’s deal by a further 12 months, potentially keeping him in red and white until the summer of 2025.
Jorginho still has a big part to play at Arsenal
“Six beautiful months. Next year, he will make the Champions League,” Santos tells Tuttomercatoweb
Jorginho’s representative insists that, as things stand, there are no active talks over an extension. But if the 31-year-old playmaker can pick up where he left off at the start of next term, Mikel Arteta will be the first to argue that the Brazil-born Italy international should be tied down on a long-term basis.
“Not yet,” Santos adds when asked whether negotions over an extension were underway. “We have a contract – with an option (to extend) – until 2025.
“For now, we are calm.”
Arriving for a bargain £12 million, Jorginho started nine Premier League games between January and June. And while Arsenal eventually missed out on their first top-flight title since the Invincibles of 2004 – choking on Manchester City’s dust as Pep Guardiola’s turbo-charged side sped over the finish line – Jorginho’s intelligence, experience and pinpoint distribution made him a big hit both among the fans and the Gunners’ coaching staff.
‘Exceptional’
“He was exceptional. He was man of the match,” Arteta beamed following Arsenal’s 2-0 win away at Newcastle United in early-May.
“There were question marks because it was going to be really physical. But if you want to go physicality against physicality, we’d have no chance to win the game. So we had to try for something different.
“I think (Jorginho) understood the game really well. H’s a really intelligent player, he gives a lot of security to the team. He dominated the game in many moments.”
The best could still be yet to come for the former Napoli maestro in North London, especially if Arteta can field Jorginho alongside a younger, more athletic midfielder such as Moises Caicedo or West Ham skipper Declan Rice.
The departure of Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, will only increase Jorginho’s importance to the Arsenal cause.
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