New signing Jorginho says he was surprised to get a call from Arsenal so late in the transfer window but admits a move to Emirates Stadium has been a long time coming.
Manager Mikel Arteta’s admiration of the player dates back to his time as an assistant coach at Manchester City and he attempted to lure the Italy international away from Stamford Bridge in September 2020 before recruiting Thomas Partey.
While the 31-year-old wasn’t necessarily top of the shopping list coming into January – the Gunners tried hard for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo – the boss played up Jorginho’s leadership qualities when the deal was announced.
For his part, Jorginho is looking forward to a new challenge after five years in west London.
In his first interview with Arsenal.com, he said: “I’m very excited for this new challenge, and I just can’t wait to be on the pitch to be honest! Everything has happened so fast. I was a bit surprised, but I took the opportunity of this amazing challenge.
“It’s an important shirt. It’s an amazing club, a big one, and I’m really excited and happy to be here.
“I’ll try to just bring positive energy, hard work and my experience to help the team. It’s what I always bring with me.
“I try just to help with the experience I’ve had in my time with the other clubs and anything I can do just to help the team to achieve more and more, that’s my target. All I can promise is that I’m going to give my all to represent this club.”
On the role played by Arteta, he added: “He was a big influence because I know that he tried a few times to get me before and it didn’t happen due to other reasons, not because of my wishes. So of course, he had a big influence.”
Arsenal’s decision to spend £12 million on a veteran has been driven by a short term need to cover Mohamed Elneny who has undergone surgery on a knee injury.
In addition to losing the Egyptian for the majority of the rest of the season, the Gunners have also sanctioned a loan for Sambi Lokonga. His move to Crystal Palace is set to be confirmed imminently.
Say what you want about him. We just traded Jorginho for Sambi for the rest of the season. That’s an upgraded. We needed to upgrade our bench. We did that.
The way I feel is that I hope he plays absolutely ZERO minutes in the league. That means Partey stays fit and we might bloody well win it!
The less we see Jorginho play the better. Seriously fucking sick of turning to Chelsea to relieve them of their fading “stars” (we give away our dross for free, while Chelsea just give Edu a call). I hated this guy as scum player, fingers crossed he doesn’t have to play much because that’s the best case scenario for the team.
that takes so cold it could sink the titanic
If he does play he will have my support %100. I hope he has the best years ahead of him in red and white and celebrates winning the league in 5 months time. Welcome to the only club in London!
We have signed three WINNERS in Jesus, Zink, and Jorginho. That is the gap we had with the squad over the past few years–not enough top, top class players who know how to WIN. That mentality changes the dressing room, incentivizes other top players to give 5% more, and shows the younger guys how it’s done. Aubu and others didn’t bring that. So, even in Jorginho was an alternative to other choices, I reckon it’s a top move.
Sorry man, but comparing zinny and Jesus to Jorg is a joke. Two players at their absolute peaks. Stellar signings. Jorg is a stop gap filler, that hopefully we don’t need need for anything more than Europa games. He’s not even partey’s stratosphere anymore. And fuck Chelsea too…
Take a look at his honours list, then try again.
Pretty similar honours list to Willian, no? Is he in his prime? You’d think if he was maybe the blue scum wouldn’t be 10th. If he was in his prime, would they be selling him?
Reminds me of when Arsenal signed Kevin Richardson …:
I was thinking the exact same, washed up ex evertonian languishing at Watford, signed by george graham and ran himself into the ground that night at Anfield – let’s hope for the same happy ending!!
Did Willian ever really look happy to come here….Jorginho seems happy, what a smile that man has, to be here ….and may he do himself and the Arse proud
No, not at all. Italy’s best player when they won the Euros (team of the tournament), maybe Chelsea’s best when they won the Champions League (team of the tournament). Third in Ballon d’Or! Fifth in The Guardian’s ranking of the 100 beat players in the world (both last year, not five seasons ago). Yes, both those last two seemed far too high to me–but they do say something, don’t they?
„Seriously fucking sick of turning to Chelsea to relieve them of their fading “stars”
this!
Well damn…I don’t agree but i REALLY get it.
zero seems absolutely fine for me too.
Stop being so f*cking dramatic. Jesus wtf is wrong with our fanbase? Chelsea fans yapping on twitter and you snap? Mate they’re 10th, and we’re challenging for the title for the first time since 2009 (to an extent 2016). There’s no guarantee their signings would work out, especially risky how they’re also tied up to 8 year contracts. Trust Edu and Mikel for now, they’ve gotten us this far. Worry about Chelsea for another time, they’re doing jack sh*t this season.
It’s amazing how our fans have so little faith in Edu and Arteta, despite them proving us wrong time and time again. Jorginho is an underwhelming signing no doubt, but if Arteta thinks he is good enough, we should fully get behind him 100%.
Arsenal fans are a laughing stock sadly, always going from one extreme to the other.
Errr please don’t take Jesus’ name in vain. He is busy recovering from injury.
Well I am not surprised that he is surprised! It was the last thing we could think of.
Be happy we got someone in with PL experience. & Atleast be open to give them a chance before you start writing them off. That’s the least any of us can do.
You’re a strange one. I hope this is not personal.😳
Take is it easy man, he is here to help. Old things have passed away ……..
In fairness to those that hate this move, I get it. I never liked Jorginho and as such never rated his game either. But he’s an Arsenal player now, can’t deny what he has achieved and that Arteta, Edu, team see him as up for it. Long as he gives his all as he says, I am all for him changing my view. can’t fault the experience he will add. More recently our experienced players have been making a difference for us as a young team. Still makes for overall the best January window we have had in almost forever.… Read more »
That’s a fair take. It’s up to him to win the rest of us over (or hopefully Partey stays fit, and we sign one/two of the proper long term options we want in the summer and this guy is irrelevant – that’s still the best option for so many reasons 😉 !
It seems a very British take to think so poorly of Jorginho. Seems the rest of Europe rate him very highly for his intelligence, skill, and positioning. I wonder if it is because the British put so much importance on the physical attributes rather than the mental and technical. Either way, for a starting 11 signing, not very excited about this one. But for a backup, this signing seems like a huge capture while we were in huge need of reinforcements on the bench with experience and leadership to get us over the line on what will be a challenging… Read more »
I’m guessing this is more about the team than the player, sprinkled with the impact of our recent dealings with Chelsea. Take that away, and we’ve got a 31 year old defensive midfielder who: started all bar 2 games this season, captaining the team over half of them (including their last Premier League game VS Liverpool), and has over 1200 minutes under his belt this season. The only 2 games where he rode the bench were defeats in the West London Derby and when they, got spanked by Brighton 4-1 Getting him for £12 million to cover for Partey seems… Read more »
This is what winning and topping the league table get you, leverage. Wouldn’t fathom reading this from an Arsenal fan at the beginning of last season with the disdain the acquisition of relatively young Ramsdale and white received. It’s a new dawn at the club owing to the “project youth” and fans are filled with optimism for the first time in ages. The skepticism of this signing is rooted in the fear of the club drifting away from the model which has been largely successful so far. Just hope this is a contingency and nothing else. Looking forward to Jorgi… Read more »
The same idiots who don’t see Jorginho as an improvement over Sambi, slated the club for buying White for £50m, howled when we bought Ramsdale for £25 and yelled Arteta-out after the first three losses last season. I see you, you know who you are. We are a different side now with different needs, actually having someone on the bench who can play the six is critical for the run in, Sambi has been taking up space.
At least one of our players knows how to dive to get a PK and also good expertise for technical fouls.
This is a good point. We are bottom of the league for penalties this season.
So we went into the window with two back up midfielders and have come out with one. Not brilliant. I like this signing though – not a stupid amount of money, experience, winning mentality. Leaves a decent amount for a big summer signing. I know Lokonga needs experience but seems like daft timing to let him go out.
Don’t forget that two of our defenders can play DM
Good point. But while I think White for instance could do a job at 6, Arteta hasn’t indicated he’d ever do that. Well, he sees them in training.
It took me two days but I’ve come round. I apologise for my meltdown. I actually have nothing against the player now that I think of it. I just hate Chelsea and them getting any money off us.
Shano you speak for many of us!
Good lad. COYG!!!!!!!!!!!
To put in context, we’re only paying them 1/10 for their newly acquired DM. Hardly helping them no? If anything they’re giving us an able cover for Partey, very late into the window, AND with Elneny’s injury coming to light. If anything WE should be thankful
i do. for me he will always be chelsea and never ever become “one of us”.
Or as the rest of us might put it “I always said he was excellent”
Jorge looks genuinely happy to be here. That’s a really great addition having players willing to play their part for this project. I am sure at end of season, Arsenal fans will be singing his song.
i will sing a song for eddie etx. nor for a him. ever.
He seems copped on. Do us proud Jorghi!
12 mil for a Partey back up who happens to be an Italian international and proven at highest levels. A BACK UP…not a replacement. What’s not to like about this? Good deal.
Replacement for both Mo and Sambi?
We also have Zinny, White, Tomy and ESR who have played in the midfield previously. Arteta wasn’t going to play Sambi again, so his spot on the roster was being wasted. His race has been run methinks.
£12m for a player who would be free in 5 months. I was laughing at the Chavs and their rental fee from Madrid but now…… I dunno. This feels like a Souares deal but more expensive.
Free in 5 months? Where did you get that from?! He has signed for one and a half year. Read, pal.
His contract at Chelsea was expiring this summer.
He would have been free in the summer had he stayed with the scum in blue
Great. But he is needed now, not in the summer. Plus whatever you save in fee, you pay in wages for a free agent.
You mean we’re not paying Jorg any wages now because we signed him for a transfer? Ok, I’m coming around to this deal then!
18 months plus 1 year extension option. i remain unenthused but its still better than what we gave to willian, cedric, or kolasnic at least in terms of length. has anyone heard what his wages actually are going to be? if it’s under 40k/wk its acceptable. i still would’ve preferred a recall of patino from his loan–seriously.
he was on 110k/wk at chelsea–suspect it’s about the same, so basically a wash with loaning out soares
Did he mean we could have got him for free in 5 months? In any case, we don’t need cover for Elneny/Lokonga in 5 months, we need it now!!
Fair point, but we need a new holding/defensive midfielder right now. And let’s be honest, he is an upgrade to Elneny and Sambi Lokonga. Especially Sambi Lokonga.
Free in 5 months, when this season will be a distant memory.
We needed cover up front in the 2nd half of last season, tried & failed & that lack of depth prob cost us Champs league football. Ppl criticised rightfully. We add depth to almost all the positions we needed for the 2nd half of this season & ppl still criticise before a ball is kicked.
Some ppl follow football for the entertainment, passion & feeling of belonging & others do it for the outrage
Some of us just really dislike the team turning to the blue scum and their scummy arse players for help, especially those over the hump and on the way down. 1. they’re scum (and so are their tainted players), and 2. the precedence is ugly viewing.
He signed so get over it and support your team. enough wasting your energy on hating Chelsea, we get it, we all feel the same but we’re top of the league so feel some joy would ya
Been plenty of joy. Love the tross signing a lot. kiwior? Fuck yeah! Super chuffed at the footy we’re playing. Do I have to be an automaton and follow the exact opinion of the masses and not critique anything? Ba…
Jesus who tf are you? Get behind the team and cut the BS
One for the outrage column.
You know, I never lost my affection for Olivier Giroud, nor for Cesc when he returned. Never saw them as “tainted.” I’m glad Joe Willock is doing well at Newcastle, though the club he plays for is more than tainted. I am happy that many of the supporters of the shitshow at Everton appreciate Alex Iwobi’s effort and quality. And I will always love Hector, no matter who he plays for. There’s lots of things that make me angry, including lots of things in football, but hating a player on my club is not one of them.
So you’re ok with us signing Harry Kane then?
If the price is right…definitely!
Well, true, but I bought a car the other day that I could probably have gotten for almost free in about two years, but the problem is that I needed to get to work this morning…
But we needed him now, the title will be lost in 5 months.
We needed a midfielder. We have a midfielder who knows the League, has won trophies, and at 31, should be a decent mentor to the youths. I’d rather have him as back up than Sambi. No disrespect to Sambi, but he isn’t a 6, and we need a 6! Welcome to Arsenal. GOONERS!!
Sambi is a true 8 , I just hope he gets some good play time with palace
and comes back ready for the fight
You mean 4?
How many trophies he HAS won is irrelevant. Ask Willian.
And if there was nobody else to mentor our youths, so we needed him, we are in a big trouble.
Willian seems to be doing well at Fulham…Which is his level..
Because a guy who has won the CL, EL, Euro Chamionship and finished 3rd in the B’Allon D’Or has nothing to pass on to our young players? Get a grip.
A player who just turned 31 is hardly a “veteran”. All this negativity around a signing that is undoubtedly an upgrade on Sambi and Elneny. He’ll be especially useful for the slower paced Europa League games. It’s not Willian who was in our starting XI at the beginning and on a long-term deal. In fact, it’s the opposite.
He’s 4 months older than Casemiro who’s been a revelation for Utd. His game has never been built on pace, and were not planning to run him into the ground.
As others point out, he’s an upgrade on Sambi who, in turn, hopefully will impress at Palace sufficiently to challenge Xhaka for the left 8, or (I think this more likely) he leaves permanently and we get a reasonable fee.
Ideally Sambi will do a Willock, smash it for 6 months, we cash in and invest in Rice.
Also Casemiro was bought for 70m quid. Sure, he’s a first teamer but looking at 13m for J-dawg it seems a decent value for money thing.
Yeah, I agree with PeteyB’s sentiment, but Casemiro was not a “revelation”–he was recognized as one of the best in the world in his role. Which is why he cost so much. Jorginho very good, but not quite that level for both Chelsea (not Real) and Italy (not Brazil). And so, 70 million v 11 million (it’s only 13 million, I believe, if we win the league, and if that happens we can raise that extra money during the parade).
Sambi gets playing time hopefully,
And Jorginho will add to our midfield with experience and calmness
win win in my book
Welcome to The Arsenal
Despite all the negativity, I think this is a good deal for us. He also has loads of experience at the top level, is used to the Premier League, and should be a quality back up for Partey. He is not getting any younger, but 31 is far from old in today’s football; many of our players were still great at that age (Rosický, Cazorla and Arteta come to mind). I am far more concerned about Lokonga going out. I mean, he was not great this season, but are we really in a position to throw away a central midfielder… Read more »
Well if he can’t learn defensive awareness from the great Patrick Vieira then he has no chance. I think the current Vieiera, ESR and even trossard could spell Xhaka in the Europa league
Bit of a rant but I’ve been quite embarrassed by the reaction to this transfer by many of our online fanbase. This is a CL and Euro winner, who was being tipped for the Ballon d’Or in 2021 and Arteta has wanted for a long time, and is only coming in as cover for Elneny, not as a replacement for Partey. But some fans are saying that this will derail our title bid because…. because Willian did badly for us? And that Edu should now be sacked? Absolutely ludicrous.
That’s the downside to internet opinions, any idiot with a phone can spout their nonsense and get an equal platform to proper supporters. It annoys me when all the newspapers and sky share sensationalism from bots/trolls as if it’s the view of us proper fans. We’ll see the real reaction when he comes on the pitch and gets applause.
it annoys me when people gatekeep things like fandom and support.
It annoys me that supporters spout absolute nonsense from their fear based analysis of the world. We improved the squad by bringing in an elite proven winner for club and country to replace a kid who can’t play in the squad due to his lack of ability to play the system off of the ball.
Funny, I saw your post when this deal was a rumour: “Badaab (1 day ago): no more old cunts from chelsea upvotes: 241 downvotes: -12” Then we sign said old cutn and it’s all about how great he is and his smashing history when he was relevant. ROFL! The popularity contest and control of how one must be a fan in this place is quite amusing… This is firmly a case that this player needs to prove himself to win me over. Xhaka did it. Let’s see if Jorginho can (but like i’ve said multiple times – let’s hope he doesn’t… Read more »
In the late Wenger and Emery years Arsenal attracted a bunch of twats who were actively looking for a club they could winge about nonstop. They’ve been starved for material lately so a whiff of the old talking points is excites then unnaturally. “Ah, this feels good,” they say, hunching over Twitter. “Edu is shit, Jorginho is shit, the Kronkes are shit, this club is shit.”
Spurs fans have always been victim mentality. I can only presume that some spurs fans decided to follow us instead and have brought the negativity with them
sounds like I made the right move deleting my twitter
Same.
Welcome to the club. No matter the opinion before joining, hes here now and everyone should support him. If he wins we win. Simple. Trust the process haha
This reminds me of the time we talked ourselves into believing that Willian was a good signing.
It reminds me of the cross directed at the signing of Aaron Ramsdale and Benjamin White. I realized that more than half of the online fanbase know fuck all about anything concerning football management. Welcome to the Famous Arsenal, Jorgi
Welcome to The Arsenal.
Or the time we cursed about paying so much for Ben White?
In the race for the EPL title this season, I prefer Jorginho on the sidelines waiting to replace Partey to Elneny and Lokonga.
You are welcome.
Trossard, Kiwior and Jorginho under different circumstances might have been Mudryk, Kiwior and Caceido (I doubt we would have forked out approx. £175m this window though); but it is what it is.
City has 19 outfield players after Cancelo’s move to Bayern according to analysts, and they are involved in three cups.
Let the second half of the battle begin.
Yes, and according to reports, Gomez and Palmer are included in the 19 and they have collectively played about 200 minutes in the league this season.
The Cansuelo move really surprised me. Probably the best fullback in England the past couple of years, the guy who kept Zinchenko on the bench. I suspect his attitude about having less playing time must have crossed Pep’s “non-negotiable” line. They are weaker without him. Maybe De Bruyne and Rodri will piss Pep off too.
I just wonder how come we end up paying 12m for 31 year old with expiring contract, but sold Bernd Leno for 8m?
Arsenal’s transfer policy is obviously buy high, sell low
Edu was definitely high when he agreed to this deal.
Edu seems to be doing a damn fine job. He has the youngest EPL team leading the league by a big margin and no overpaid dead wood. All this as brilliant young and older players across the world watch on hoping to join us
Lol. And which big club in EPL that can do the opposite?
Pretty simple. We desperately needed cover for Thomas Partey to try and win a title this year. Jorginho ticks all the boxes and is an upgrade on Sambi and Elneny.
Leno was a clear second choice goalkeeper who wanted to stay in London on high wages, and would’ve been more than happy to let his contract run down.
Comparing apples to oranges bud.
I’m glad someone with sense could be bothered to responded to that nonsense. Well put Arkansas Gooner
And we did fine selling Martinez whose superb shithousing and excellence on penalty kicks don’t make up for the fact that he is an okay keeper, no more.
Obviously paying per letter
Jorge Luiz Frello Filho: about 12m
Bernd Leno: about 8m
Makes sense that we’re going for Rice then.
So every player with similar age must have similar value now?
Excellent signing he’ll add a bit more winners mentality & experience to our young squad ! Won’t clog up the youngsters pathways either ie Patino so it’s a yes from me !
Apparently Blogs does not consider Jorginho a signing worthy of note: the scorecard on the dateline live blog still reads 0 – 2 in favour of outgoings! Or has the signing gone to “VAR” while we wait with bated breath?
Does he speak Portuguese ☑️
Had he worked with Arteta before ❎
0-💩
Let’s hope he’ll be more like Benanyun than Willian… more will to help and make a difference
or neither tbh 🙂
He was surprised – and we all were as well. Anyway, good luck to him.
I imagine that Chelsea couldn’t believe their luck that they’d be receiving around £12 million in January for a player who would have left them for nothing at all in the summer. I wish the “transfer gods” would smile on us like that (even occasionally).
jaysus.
you honestly think chels give a fook about 10M…they’ve spent 10 times that so far this window.
good grief, the lengths some “supporters” go to crap on the club is galling.
Good point but isn’t it over 20 times that. Also the reportedly wanted 15-20 million. £12m for a player we badly needed in an inflated January window who has won actual trophies and now we’ve seen stats is actually a bargain. I felt physically sick yesterday when I heard about this going through. Today I am actually really happy. The price for Caicedo was ridiculous. Mudryk too. Let Chelsea take their Pepe Gambles. Not repeating that is far more important than not repeating Willian and of the two I think the former was much more likely.
and some “supporters” rationalize everything the club does as good without learning from past mistakes. we have been down this road repeatedly with bargain bin veteran signings from chelsea and none of them have worked out for any period of time, resulting in us having to pay them off to leave.
yes, this is a deal for 18 months (with an option, mind), yes we have shifted cedric’s wages for the remainder of the season, but we have failed to address the issue of in 6 months time we’re going to have to pay someone to take him on loan.
The amount may be down to the zero wriggle room we had for negotiations. If this had come up in the middle of January, I am certain we’d pay half that.
And therein lies the core of the problem. Moving on January 30th to fix an area of concern that has been there all season = paying ch**$** for a rapidly fading stop-gap option.
How has it been a concern all season? Elneny was the backup to Partey and he only just recently got injured.
There is no capacity to examine reality with that one. All emotion and hot takes.
“The core of the problem.” We are top of the league, we play exciting, creative football, we have a bunch of likeable players. Imagine how good things would be if only Edu and Arteta knew as much about football as you do.
Ok, I’ll have a bloody go at it… Are you claiming we haven’t had a need to upgrade our midfield? Particularly in terms of depth? I mean the general consensus has been we are a little short in quality behind Partey (no disrespect to Mo, who I love, but he’s not TP, and Sambi has struggled a bit at the 6). You think we just started throwing out >70M quid offers for caciedo because Elneny was injured? I’ve given a tonne of praise to Mikel and Edu, they’ve been awesome. We’re crushing it and I freaking love it! Don’t we… Read more »
I would be happier if Arsenal had gotten Declan Rice now, instead of waiting for next summer and buying Jorginho in the meantime. Also, as much as I like the Trossard purchase, I would have been happier (much happier) if we had gotten Mbappe instead. Back on Planet Earth, we are a significantly stronger squad than we were a couple of weeks ago (when we thought we had a fit Elneny). And it is on Planet Earth, not in FIFA or some fantasy league, that Edu and Arteta must do their business. And where we remain the best team in… Read more »
It’s a move that makes perfect sense, given where we are right now. However, having just strengthened the squad, why then weaken the team again by loaning out Sambi ?
Lokonga leaving hasn’t really weakened the squad. He isn’t even second choice in any position anymore.
Lokonga leaving strengthens the squad!
Sambi doesn’t play.
I can’t believe it’s 5 years ago since Sarri signed him, it seems like longer.
How many managers have Chelsea had in 5 years
Potter is the fourth since Sarri. The 20th since Wenger started at Arsenal. Its a different system.
Arteta Sees what you don’t see…
Arteta Is not naive,,,He knows the kind of players he wants for the kind of system he plays…Remember when he signed Ramsdale for that huge amount, A goalkeeper with 2 relegation on his C V…it turned out to be a great signing…We are quick Trash-talkers..but i tell you what??. THE Gaffer knows best…
certainly says the things you’d expect, but its an uphill battle to win my support for this one after signing so many old disappointing chelsea players on huge salaries and *especially* after edu said we were finished with that.
feels like a lack of a clear plan (again) for areas we all saw needed strengthening over the summer.
regardless of what the pr machine is spinning out about ‘why this makes sense’ all i can hope he works hard and sets a good example for the younger players and we rarely see him play and never in the league.
Would much rather him for £12m then Caicedo for £80m- especially if it helps us get Rice in the summer. Similarly to Trossard and Kiwior, he’s a player who takes pressure off the first team and enables us to rest/rotate when possible. Not many clubs are happy to sell as they can’t get replacements at short notice, but we are coming into February stronger than we came into January (and still top having played some good teams). £12m for a player with a contract running out isn’t the end of the world either as we’d likely get money back if/when… Read more »
Thank God Partney got injured at Man City, we found out Sambi wasn’t ready and got a replacement just in the nick of time.
… Now for that title challenge.
Chelsea 🐀
You armchair fans always know best:
Ramsdale was a waste of money cos he’d been relegated twice and cost more than Emi, Jesus was a reject just here for the money, Odegaad was a failure at Madrid, Partey was expensive and injury prone, Xhaka was a liability who should have been sacked, and Georginio is bad signing because he’s from Chelsea.
Now everyone can breath and focus back on the league
I’m confused. Mo is out for season. Sambi is off to Palace. We’ve bought Jorginho. Aren’t we a midfielder short of a full deck. We had to play that 4th CM against city. What happens next time.
I think the consensus is that Lukonga was never an option. From the City game, clearly that was the case. So we have replaced one legitimate option with another, and sent the other player on a loan deal.
Thanks Baz. I don’t quite understand the down votes I got there. All I was saying is we had 4 CMs (TP, GX, ME and SL) And we had to use them all at some point this season. Now we only have 3. So I was just wondering who the fourth willl be when we inevitably need him again. Blogs today saying he Thinks ESR or Vieira for GX. So that has kind of answered it. I was wondering about Zinny or Tiwor. But maybe they are better cover for TP/Jorgi.
Good Business. Just annoying because we have been burned before with Chelsea pensioners, but i see this one differently. Added winning experience around the squad is always welcome. I think we are harsh on the club sometimes for being too ‘safe’. We could have broken the bank and spent 200million on Mudryk and Caicedo but we played it safe and instead were very pragmatic to buy a defender, midfielder and forward for a quarter of the price. When we win the league and then buy Rice and Caicedo in the summer for less money Edu will be a genius again.… Read more »
So was i, but not in a good way.
Not the worst appointment or the best either, with all my Chel$ea mates who have had nothing to laugh about all season have give me plenty today saying they are so happy to see him go, i pointed out he was very much apart of your last recent success, maybe he had stagnated in a club that changes its managers the number of times i change my trainers, lets get behind him and give him all our support, an extra 20,000 home crowd compared to the little West London club where he’s been playing at can help, with the great… Read more »
He just strikes me as that guy that will pick up a straight red on his first appearance, in which he comes off the bench late in a close one…
But maybe it’s just his face.
how much more effective is he than a one legged elneny? maybe in a penalty shootout….at least its an 18 month contract. meh
Hopefully this puts the Tielemans rumours to bed
Great pick up. Mo went down and Sambi out on loan with him coming in as cover is exactly what we need.
We were never going to pay overs for Caicedo.
Get behind him guys, lets crack on and win this thing!
I don’t normally comment. The rhetoric I’ve seen by certain qualitee fat persons on here is against everything we have strived for this season (20 seasons). Our wonderful young team is something we are rightly proud of.
He is now our player.
The best thing I’ve seen and heard this season, togetherness.
Our fans are the best.
Get behind him. I’m pretty sure our wonderful young squad will be.
Let’s keep going please.
Champions.
Great Signing imo! Calm on the ball, brilliant passer, read the game at a high level. Only downside is his speed, but I reckon with Xhaka and with solid defense him, he will fit right in. Top notch January transfer window for Arsenal, covered all the bases. Lets win the League!
Josh Kroenke’s body double! Get in!
When he played for Chelsea, he is called world class, ballon d’or contender etc. When he moved to Arsenal, of course he is called shit, slow and aging. Even Jesus and Zinchenko called City reject lol. For me as long as Arteta rate him, I’ll always give my support. I believe a player doesn’t goes from world class to shit in just a short time. Maybe he isn’t treated well, no motivation/need new challenge, or the team adapting to different tactics that’s not suitable for him. And I know if Arteta wanted him, for sure he knows how to utilize… Read more »
Between now and end of May we will play around 27 games (if we succeed in in euro league). that means a lot of weeks we will be playing weekend – mid week – weekend.
That will be too many games for Partey. We should use him wisely (especially with his injury record)
I would happily use Jorginho for many of the easier games to spare partey. Maybe he is the signing that will earn us those critical few points which can make the difference between winning the league/euro league. That 1 point or that crucial equalizer.
We on board the Arsenal, Jorginhno. I trust you’ll have a glorious time playing at the Emirates.
Quality back up.
I can see why Arteta likes him, they look like brothers. I am OK with this deal as cover for this season as he is someone who can step right in for Partey if need be given his experience and having played many games so far this season. However, if we don’t get someone in like Caicedo, Rice or someone like them (younger, athletic/physical, potential for development, starting material, etc.) this Summer and we go all of next year with him as the main backup to Partey then really will not like this deal. I know there all the talk… Read more »
It is not exactly exciting but it makes sense.
Good business in my opinion. You can’t compare this deal to the Willian one. If it was in the summer, sure I’d be concerned as it would go against our current transfer policy (which I’m a huge fan of). But the reality is that we need cover in this position, we need Premier League experience and not someone who is ‘one for the future’. He’s on an 18 month contract, which gives us the rest of this season for him to help us immediately and to provide cover for next season, so the timing and the deal both make sense.… Read more »
“Our 30+ signings from Chelsea haven’t really been a success” MMmmm George Graham was Ok!