Jorginho has confirmed that his move to Arsenal was a long time coming, despite the rapid nature of it all coming together.
The Gunners completed the transfer for the midfielder on deadline day, signing from Chelsea in a deal worth a reported £12million. Jorginho arrives at the Emirates at the end of a window which has seen the Premier League leaders double down on their position at the midpoint of the season.
Gunners boss Arteta had already seen moves for Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior completed, with the main objective of adding depth to the squad achieved. A central midfield player had been on the agenda for much of the window, a need only heightened by Mohamed Elneny suffering a serious injury.
He has been ruled out with a significant knee injury, meaning that behind Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka, options were sparse. Jorginho immediately addresses that concern and brings vast experience of winning trophies both at club and international level.
But the move for the 31-year-old only appeared to be triggered after it became clear Moises Caicedo would not be signing from Brighton. Arsenal lodged a whopping bid to sign the Ecuador international, but after the Seagulls made it clear he wasn’t for sale, the Jorginho deal developed quickly.
However, the Italy star has confirmed that it wasn’t a panic signing and that Arteta has actually tried to sign him on a number of occasions in the past.
“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,” Jorginho told the club’s official website.
“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.”
Arteta said: “Jorginho is a midfield player with intelligence, deep leadership skills and a huge amount of Premier League and international experience.
Jorginho has won in his career, but he still has the hunger and huge willingness to contribute here. We are so pleased to sign Jorginho and welcome him and his family to the club.”
Sporting Director Edu added: “Jorginho is an established professional with a strong mentality who brings quality and experience into our squad. He is a player who fits our style of play, and he joins us at a very good moment where he can contribute in a key position to help maintain our momentum.”
Jorginho will now immediately join up with his new team-mates and is in line to make his debut for the club when they take on Everton this weekend.
