Arsenal are set to sign Jorginho for £12m instead of Moises Caicedo for a fee that was set to be as high as £75m.
Now, this transfer may not be the most exciting of all-time, but we can’t help but wonder how this affects their transfer plans for the summer.
Indeed, it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that Arsenal are saving a huge amount of money when going for Jorginho instead of Caicedo, and that money could be used in the summer.
Ben Jacobs explained the point well on The Done Deal Show on Deadline Day.
“That money doesn’t just disappear. I’m not saying Arteta has to spend it, but £12m on Jorginho is not the same on £75m or more on Caicedo, so Arsenal fans criticising the spending should be excited about the summer because there will be money to spend and the project will develop,” Jacobs said.
The saving of £63m in the January window is huge, and this extra cash could help the Gunners land their top summer transfer target – Declan Rice.
Rice is a player who has been linked with Arsenal over the past few weeks. The Times have reported that he’s the club’s top target this summer, and he’d be a very solid addition to this side.
His presence in the midfield could provide a solid foundation for the team and provide more depth beyond Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey. The England international has been one of West Ham’s standout players this season and has caught the eye of many top clubs.
Of course, many wondered how Arsenal would finance a move for such a player. Rice has regularly been touted as a £100m talent, but now that they’ve saved £63m on a potential deal for Caicedo, this move begins to look very possible.
Caicedo not signing for Arsenal is a blow, but every cloud does have a silver lining, and in this case, that silver lining could be a summer move for Rice.
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