Arsenal sporting director Edu has led the Premier League leaders’ interest in Spezia centre-half Jakub Kiwior. The Gunners are now closing in on sealing a transfer for the Poland star.
That is according to football.london, which reports Edu honed in on Kiwior to afford Mikel Arteta another defensive option. The Arsenal boss sought further cover for his backline in the mid-season sales having failed to sign competition for Gabriel Magalhaes last summer.
Arteta has strived to sign a left-footed centre-back who can rival the Brazilian to play with William Saliba or Ben White. He had initially hoped to secure one option in the off-season after Pablo Mari joined AC Monza on loan. But Edu now has Kiwior firmly in his crosshairs.
Edu advanced Arsenal’s efforts to secure Kiwior’s transfer from Spezia to improve Arteta’s chances of winning the Premier League title. The Gunners will host Manchester United on Sunday sitting atop the table. They have a five-point lead on the holders, Manchester City.
Gabriel is the only outfield Arsenal player to have featured for all 1,620 minutes of their 18 matches this season. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is the only other ever-present in Arteta’s squad. While Saliba has played 1,606 and White – but from right-back – has enjoyed 1,473.
Kiwior is set for a medical with Arsenal ahead of a £26m transfer from Spezia
Kiwior is set to travel to England over the weekend to undergo a medical and to finalise his transfer from Spezia to Arsenal. That is according to TuttoMercatoWEB, which reports that the Gunners will pay an initial €25m (£22m). Add-ons can take the fee up to €30m (£26m).
Spezia are now striving to sign Venezia defender Przemyslaw Wisniewski as a replacement for Kiwior, also per TuttoMercatoWEB. The Aquilotti have hurried to negotiate terms with the Serie B side ahead of selling Kiwior. But Spezia are happy with the offer that Edu has made.
Kiwior, a nine-cap Poland enforcer, has started in all 17 of his Serie A meetings this season. He also started in all four of the Bialo-Czerwoni’s games at the World Cup in Qatar. The 6 ft 2 ace only made his senior international bow last June but soon impressed his teammates.
“Listen to me: this is a real player,” Robert Lewandowski claimed, via quotes by Citta Della Spezia. “I noticed it during the warm-up before the match against the Netherlands.
“In training, it’s very difficult to see certain things. I asked, ‘but who is he?’ Then I saw him in the match, extraordinary. Really great potential.”
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