It may not sit well with the Arsenal and Chelsea fans, but both clubs have concluded a number of transfer deals in recent years and it seems another surprising one could be on the cards.
Sky Sports have claimed that Arsenal are keen to raid their London rivals for the signature of their technically-gifted midfielder Jorginho.
The Brazilian moved to Stamford Bridge in 2018 when a certain Manchester City, who had Arteta on their books at the time, failed to land his signature.
At the time, Pep Guardiola admitted that City were ‘close’ to landing the player Arteta now seemingly wants at Arsenal and labelled him an ‘exceptional’ midfielder, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“I’ve said before that I want players who want to come here,” Guardiola told Sky Sports in 2018. “He didn’t want that. We tried, we believed it was done but at the last turn he decided on Chelsea.
“Nothing to say but good luck at Chelsea. English football has an exceptional holding midfielder.”
Arsenal’s record transfer deals
- Nicolas Pepe
£72 million
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
£56 million
- Alexandre Lacazette
£52 million
- Thomas Partey
45 million
- Mesut Ozil
£42 million
It now shouldn’t be a surprise that Jorginho is on Arsenal’s midfield wishlist given his ability to control the tempo of a game that suits Arteta.
But the Chelsea man has been a marmite-like figure during his days at Stamford Bridge and it took him a while to win over his fans.
It wasn’t until Frank Lampard took over the reigns that fans began to see the ability he possesses in keeping possession in tight areas, getting the best out of the more attack-minded players ahead of him and breaking the opposition lines.
Arsenal could do with someone who can provide that added calmness to their midfield, but their fans would clearly prefer a more robust and aggressive Thomas Partey.
Whilst Arsenal fans may be keen to steer away from signing another Chelsea player, it needs to be remembered that a player highly-regarded by Guardiola must have something in his locker and its now a case of their fans trusting Arteta’s judgment in who they sign for that number 6 or 8 role.
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