Football agent Kia Joorabchian has defended his clients playing for Arsenal amid questions over their form and says Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher is talking “rubbish” when aiming criticism their way.
The Gunners won the FA Cup at the end of last season and looked to be progressing under Mikel Arteta, but a busy summer in the transfer market has not prolonged that improvement.
Despite signing Willian on a big salary deal, renewing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s contract, signing Gabriel Magalhaes ahead of other interested parties and paying the release clause to secure top midfield target Thomas Partey, the Gunners have been poor in the Premier League this season.
They sit 15th in the table and their struggles in front of goal are well-documented, and Jamie Carragher was particularly aggrieved at the "shambles" of a performance in the recent North London derby.
The former Liverpool defender also questioned the arrivals of Willian, David Luiz and Cedric Soares, all of whom are represented by Joorabchian - who says they were all Arsenal requests rather than the agent himself pushing the deals onto the club.
“The fact is I had nothing to do with the signing of Willian. If Jamie had bothered to check with Mikel [Arteta] or [technical director] Edu, they would have said Mikel presented three different times to convince Willian to be his number one signing at Arsenal. He had an opportunity to stay at Chelsea and to go to two other Premier League clubs. [Inter] Miami made him a very nice offer. Mikel convinced him to stay,” Joorabchian said on Sky Sports News.
“David Luiz was in the same situation. Mikel spent a lot of time in lockdown to speak to him and persuade him to stay. Gabriel was on the list of at least three other clubs.”
Joorabchian went on to criticise Carragher for not choosing to “check his facts” before airing his views and claimed he was paid a hefty salary by the broadcaster to speak on matters.
"I'm very surprised because Jamie is one of the people that monopolises Sky Sports commentary. Sky Sports producers pay a lot of money to him - hundreds of thousands, so I can't understand why he doesn't check his facts before he speaks.
“But the main point is - why do Sky pay Jamie Carragher so much money to talk rubbish? Surely he has the contacts through Sky or himself to make a phone call to Edu or even Sky to put a question in through the press department. Why make an assumption that is going to create an atmosphere that is very bad throughout the club?”
Willian has yet to score for the Gunners in the league or Europa League, while Cedric has made only seven appearances in all competitions.
