Arsenal are now set to announce the signing of Jorginho, and while some supporters are not convinced, there is a feeling of excitement among the team.
Jorginho visited Arsenal’s London Colney training ground on Tuesday to complete a medical and sign a contract with the North London club until June 2024 with the option of a further year.
The Italy International will cost the Gunners an initial fee of £10million, with another £2m due in add-ons.
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The decision to sign Jorginho came after Arsenal failed to convince Brighton to sell Moises Caicedo. They made two bids for the Ecuador international, with the second worth £70m, but saw both rejected by Brighton.
Caicedo, who was also chased by Chelsea, made it clear that he wanted to leave the club for Arsenal, but the Seagulls made a stance not to budge.
Arsenal, therefore, changed plan to target Jorginho and make him their third signing of the January window, after Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior.
It seems the transfer move has gone down badly among some Arsenal supporters, with #EduOut trending on Twitter on Tuesday.
A minority of fans are angry that the Arsenal sporting director has failed to land the main target and had instead gone for a shorter-term deal for a player from a direct rival.
However, that is not the feeling inside the Arsenal dressing room. The Athletic claims that the news of Jorginho’s arrival has been met with ‘quite a lot of excitement from the players and staff’, who are happy to see an experienced player with trophies on his CV arrive.
Jorginho has won the UEFA Champions League and Europa League since joining Chelsea in a £50m deal from Napoli in July 2018. He was also key in helping Italy win Euro 2020 with a win over England on penalties at Wembley.
Arsenal are in need of reinforcements in the middle of the park after Thomas Partey suffered a rib injury in the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City and Mohamed Elneny’s knee injury was confirmed as a serious one.
Jorginho’s arrival could now prompt the exit of Albert Sambi Lokonga on loan to Crystal Palace until the end of the campaign.
Jorginho was due to become a free agent on July 1 when his Chelsea contract was supposed to expire. The move is beneficial for all parties, with the club happy to achieve a sizeable transfer fee for a player who was set to leave for free this summer.
