Arsenal are set to sign Poland international Jakub Kiwior from Italian side Spezia in a deal worth €20 million, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The centre-back, 22, will add strength in depth behind Gabriel Magalhaes who has been covering the left side on his own this season.
It’s claimed by Polish journalist Tomasz Włodarczyk that his contract will run for five and a half years and that Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan were keeping tabs on him.
Arsenal are closing in on deal to sign Polish centre back Jakub Kiwior from Spezia, here we go soon! Fee in excess of €20m, medical tests could take place this week 🚨⚪️🔴🇵🇱 #AFC
Deal very advanced, as per @wlodar85 — all parties hope to get it sealed soon. pic.twitter.com/BPk9wUamlA
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 20, 2023
We don’t know a whole lot about Kiwior aside from the fact he has played for his country at every level and moved to Italy in August 2021.
He’s featured 43 times for Spezia and played all but three minutes of his country’s four matches at the World Cup.
The Gunners had previously been tipped to sign France international Evan Ndicka on a free transfer next summer but it looks as though we’ve gone with a different option.
Kiwior looks like being the second piece of business we’ll do in January with the arrival of Leandro Trossard set to be confirmed imminently.
booyakasha
I love these out of the blue signings. It really makes you realise where the leaks come from. It’s all the agents and the on the radar clubs. You can’t do a quiet transfer of an exciting name at one of these well known “feeder” clubs like shaktar, nice, benefica, sporting, etc. These players at these clubs always have the super agents hovering and makes you wonder even more about the hand shake behind closed door agreements between sellers and super agents. A broken industry.
Nice bit of business, gonna need that depth as soon as europe kicks off again
A “nice piece of business”. You obviously know about him so have the advantage over me, at least. That said, I certainly hope he’ll be.
All I know about Kiwior is every time I attempt to pronounce his name I sound like Jonathon Ross.
Tell me, how did you start your Kiwior in the music industry Ed?
(yeh actually pronounced kivior to ruin the fun)
Hahahaha! Perfect 👍
KEEV-yor
What?!? Is his club president not going to come out and say that he is better than £60m Marc Cucurella and therefore won’t be sold for anything less than £75m?
And then bitch about “Arsenal tapped him up you know so that’s why I sold him to Cunts FC for absurd money because it’s about the principles and not the money, honest”. A day later Cunts FC owner Tad Bollock is arrested for having pushed an old lady in front of a bus because he was convinced she stood in his way of spunking 200 million on…I don’t know, McTominay or some cunt like that.
This feels like a Wenger signing.
I thought the exact same thing – hope he proves a reliable deputy that can give the center back pairing the ability to properly rotate for the run in.
He seems highly rated in Italy. Both Juve, Milan as well as Dortmund all wanted him. Lewandowski had high praise for him during the nation’s cup. All these from Google search. Just got so excited by the news! A classic Wenger signing! Didn’t think it was possible anymore these day and age.
tomi, Martinelli. I have a Brazilian friend and she’s mad about footy, particularly the youth talent in Brazil that she claims to be super knowledgeable and up to date on, and after Martinelli arrived and went on that sweet cup scoring run I mentioned him and they had no idea who he was. They mentioned it the other day and she said I can’t believe an Aussie in Canada introduced me to one of Brazil’s best young talents! Lol…
Similar experience here. My wife’s friend from Brazil also didn’t know who Martinelli was.
Same here she didn’t know who he was either
hahahaa
Let’s hope he’s nothing like a classic Wenger centre half signing!!
Only Campbell and Toure can be labelled absolute successes the others anywhere between sufficient to complete disaster
Koscielny?
Mertesacker?
Holding?
Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Koscielny (more than sufficient I’d say)
Silvestre, Squillaci, Mustafi
(complete disasters)
Mixed bag
Mertesacker was good, Vermalen injury prone and Koscienly average
Calling Koscielny average is a bit of revisionist history.
Really?!?
He featured in every pasting we received from the 8-2 at Old Trafford, the 4-4 against Newcastle, to the various 5-0’s, 5-1’s, 6-0’s we had.
I honestly have no idea how he’s held in such high regard considering his role in all that despite the fact he was the only common denominator in those matches!
He also had his arse handed to him by a Championship Jason Roberts when we let in 5 against Reading in the League Cup!
The Newcastle result was decided by Phil dowd, not our defense.
What about the other one’s?
Dude, you are totally full of it.
Kos was a boss.
He made just as many errors as Mustafi, League cup final vs Birmingham?!! Or was that some else fault?
Ah, science! If only Wenger and Deschamps had seen that pattern! By the way, I am reasonably sure that the only common denominator in all of Argentina’s losses in major tournament finals, until recently, was Messi.
I distinctly remember Koscienly being bullied by the Portugal striker for their winner, a reoccurring theme!
I distinctly remember Messi being in Kozzer’s back pocket during our both legs of our Champions league tie. Remember the one where that twat sent of RvP for playing on during 100,000 whistling Barca fanatics for not hearing his whistle. A tie we would have won without that red card. Koz was phenomenal.
Wow. You’re actually so wrong. Koscielny was often the best defender in the whole league. Vermaelen was too hot to keep hold of.
Can’t believe you think Kos was average! Wow.
The guy was rash, weak and often when the going got tough either did something rash or limped off
Or, yknow, scored the decisive goal
Koscielny and Mertesacker partnership was the best CB partnership in 2010’s (until upto Gabriel,Saliba pairing….I think you judge him based on circumstances in which he left the club…
How could you forgot the legend that is big Igor Stepanovs
Or Oleg Luzhny (?)!
Campbell and Toure were good defenders in a system. Koscielny was a boss with or without a good team around him. When we had a good setup we went a whole calendar year with the absolute best defensive record around Europe. When we didn’t, Koscielny still shined individually and had the tendency to keep the biggest forwards in the game quiet.
Individual skill wise I rate him way above Campbell and Toure but I may be biased.
Oh no. He hasn’t got a broken back as he?
as long as he can take penalties it doesn’t matter.
Who? To be fair, I’d never heard of Gabriel Magalaes, Thomas Partey or Martin Odegaard either, before Arsenal were linked with them.
I knew a whole lot about Nicolas Pepe, Jadon Sancho and Mikhailo Mudryk though…
I think we only knew abt murdyk because we were linked for so long. Honestly, we over-hyped him ourselves and fans are measuring every new signing with that unreasonable yardstick.
You’d didn’t watch the 2018 Europa League semis so. TP played against us in both legs
It sounds like the new Mustafi. Please, tell me I’m wrong.
You’re wrong
Genuine question, what is it that gives you that idea?
It’s okay to acknowledge you don’t everything there is to know about a player, it doesn’t immediately make them terrible. All we can do is cheer him on and judge him based on what he does for us which fingers crossed is very good 🙂
If you want downvotes, you could have just said this guy is Saliba’s replacement.
Mustafi was a colossal blunder in the transfer market and I understand ended up having to be paid to leave the club. That said, I’m sure that Edu and co. have done their homework on Kiwior much more thoroughly than appeared to be the case by their predecessors all those years ago for Mustafi so let’s wait and see.
In fact on paper the signing of Mustafi was great. A German international who initially formed a fine central partnership with Koscielny. Arsenal were undefeated for his first 17 matches. He sadly declined rapidly but Wenger can’t be blamed.
Everyone forgets how much Arsenal fans loved Mustafi at first. He was (and remained–though we don’t want to admit it) a very fine defender most of the time–very good in the air, a good passer with excellent vision. But he increasingly made catastrophic errors, almost always more mental that from a lack of pace or technical quality. When he was re-introduced into the team by Arteta after the lockdown he again looked surprisingly good–maybe the absence of a crowd helped. Having said that, he obviously had to be gotten rid of. (I also have no idea of his effect in… Read more »
He started very well, then he dipped badly and after a few dismal years he picked up a bit towards the end as Arteta managed to somehow get some form out of him again. It was nothing personal, he seemed a decent guy, but I was glad to finally see the back of him when he went. I hope he’s doing well.
It sounds like the new Koscielny. Please tell me I’m right.
Please no, he was useless
This is an even better way to attract downvotes.
Let’s just hope he’s good in his own right. Comparisons are odious as they say.
Stop posting cringe bro
That’s a weird comparison. Mustafi was one of the most expensive centre backs in the world when we bought him. This guy is going to cost almost half of what Mustafi did, and in a hugely inflated market to boot.
You are wrong.
Are you trying to ward off Todd Boehly?
I understand he’s quite versatile – can play at CB, left back, right back, defensive midfield, attacking midfield, left wing, right wing, centre forward
Heard rumours he’s a good goalie.
Also heard he is a good set piece coach to boot 🙂
More positions than Ron Jeremy.
You forgot Goal, Physio, Chief groundsman and Turnstile operator.
Can he ref too? Because if he can’t then he’s a total waste of money! And what about deputising for Gunnersaurus?
You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.
So, basically Johnny Sins of football?
Seems to have skipped most people that have commented so far, but he actually played CDM for his club for like half the games last season.
Decent technique on ball and very cabable of distributing from the deep with some awesome long diagonals across the pitch.
Never heard of him (like 99.9% of Gooners, I suspect). Hopefully he’ll be an asset.
The Tucker of old would be lambasting not signing Evan Ndicka on a free, as it seems the most logical from a fan perspective.
This one is excited and fully trusta Edu and Arteta’s judgement, even if a complete novice on the player.
I’m pleased to be a changed man
I thought I read even though he’s free his agent wanted 50mil or something ridiculous like that. Not sure of validity of that but I know I saw it in multiple articles.
Ndicka may be a “free” but I read somewhere that the expected signing on fees, salary and agents fees are astronomical. “Free” is definitely not always free.
Agreed. Never quite understood the whole “you signed me on a free so therefore need to pay me an absolute shit load” logic. Seems like something an agent dreamt up one day and clubs ran with it
Pay what players merit, regardless of transfer fee
Left sided centre backs are as rare as a Tottenham trophy. Impressive squad building which mirrors the Man City method. I like the way we’ve moved on from Mudryk.
Come on, left sided CBs are rare, but exist.
No idea who this guy is, but if he’s coming into the premier league to play center half he’s going to need to hit the gym!
He’s Polish, he’ll survive
Looked at some videos. Seems well built. Pretty tough in fact. Plays in Seria A, so can’t be that bad. It’s a physical league
I’ve seen the videos and watched him go to ground more often than he should. And the Italian league is less physical than the championship.
People who watch regularly tell me the Italian league is very different from its old reputation. Very attack-minded, not defense-first at all.
BIG BIG BIG risk to go for this guy over N’Dicka!!! Like wtf, spezia?? ND wants to Join, on a free, left sided, would be a French compatriot for Saliba, won the EL and still in CL, great talent. This is such a bummer, from Mudryk to Trossard, the grumpy cat and now this. Yes, yes, I can already hear you, ‘trust the plan’, whatever. MAJOR LET DOWN FROM OUR OWNERS, THE RICHEST DUDE IN SPORT.
And fuc*ing spurs, what a bunch of vajayjay’s.
Good stuff, but did the Trossard deal get done in time?
In time for afternoon tea? I believe so, Earl Grey and scones were served on the veranda.
Good signing, will require very little polishing from Arteta as he’s already Polish.
I’mma head out. 😌
Nice surprising signing. Looks like we are covering all the gaps in our squad now for the title push.
He looks a solid big defender with a nice diagonal pass from deep to find the right wing, so bodes well for us as the quick ball to Saka is one of our superpowers.
Signings are like London busses – wait ages for one and then two come along at once 😄
Quite under the radar, this one. The age profile is good too. I hope he is more Gabriel than Pablo Mari though.
Like Trossard, this window is now about getting players in with full international level experience to bolster the squad for the short term.
This lad will at least enable us to rest Gabriel in the FA Cup and the Europa.
That’ll do me.
Arsène, is that you?
Well, Kiwior is a young and promising player. He’s also quite versatile in terms of positions on the pitch. He’s tall and quick, good with the ball for a CB. He still lacks experience and tends to make simple mistakes every now and then. Probably concentration issues. Played a huge role in the Polish national team during the World Cup, where Poland achieved the best result in last 36 years, though the style was questionable. He already got some favourable reviews in Italy, where he’s been playing since 2021. All in all it would be a very old school Arsenal… Read more »
This chatgpt thing is brilliant 😂
Really? English may not be my first language but I’m not a bot, come on man 😂 Tried to put in simple words what I knew about the player ‘cos it was quite an exciting news for me. Oh and I think Mikel might be tempted to deploy him as a DM, sort of Bielik thing.
Need to send him to a camp for those concentration issues.
I am arsenal fan I see how arsenal are signing up great talented players 👏…continue strengthing the team 👏I am really happy the way edu gasper is doing today
Out of the blue for sure, but definitely the type of signing we needed this month to provide depth in areas we lack. Certainly not coming in to replace starters right now, but is young yet very experienced and can cover multiple positions which has been key in so many of our recent transfers that have been very successful. He looks strong physically, has good size and looks to be strong technically. Obviously is also one for the future and provides immediate much needed cover for Gabriel as well as potentially Partey.
And enough left over for a central midfielder, fingers crossed.
Can’t see us doing anything there, saving a place and cash for Rice
Half his starts for Spezia have been at CDM – this guy kills 2 birds in 1 January. Cover for Gabriel and Partey. Interested to see how is used
I admit I know very little about this player except the fact that Juventus, AC Milan and Napoli were interested in him but he sounds like a typical MA signing – young, versatile, comfortable and composed on the ball. It will provide competition for Gabriel and pad out our squad a little.
Pleased with Trossard – able to play RLC, Premiership proven and seven goals already – a much safer bet than Mudryk.
Interesting that last season he played 20 games in Serie A as a DM
Oh really? Now that is interesting 👍
He seems like a left-sided carbon copy of Ben White.
Makes me think MA doesn’t believe Auston Trusty will be able to make the jump to the Premier League. He looks like he has a good first half of the season at Birmingham, so as a left-sided centre back, he would be the obvious backup for Gabriel. Not sure if there is a recall clause in his loan deal. Alternatively, Trusty might be seen as the replacement for Holding in the park the bus roll, with Holding going into the last year of his contract in the summer and probably the last chance to sell him on.
Very interesting player! He is one of the biggest young talents in Poland, as a kid he played futsal a lot, then as a 16 year old he left Poland and played youth football in Anderlecht and senior football for MSK Żilina. He’s fast with good acceleration, can play out from the back, basically calm and assured player.
This will put as in Pole position to win the league
*looks up how to spell “coat” in cyrillic*
*us
The Poles don’t use the cyrillic alphabet.
Top pun though.
Oops you’re absolutely right mate, I deeply apolishize