Arsenal’s tortuous search for midfield reinforcements was concluded on Tuesday with the signing of Chelsea’s Jorginho in a deal worth £12million ($14.8million).
The Italy midfielder, 31, had spent four and a half years at Chelsea after joining from Napoli and departs as a Champions League, Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup winner. Arsenal, rebuffed in their attempts to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion, have secured his services through to the summer of 2024.
Welcome to The Arsenal, Jorginho 👊 pic.twitter.com/jHXqAUBKKQ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 31, 2023
The path he takes across the capital is well trodden, with Petr Cech and Willian having swapped Stamford Bridge for the Emirates Stadium in recent years.
Art de Roche, Mark Carey and Simon Johnson look at what he will offer his new club, and the legacy he will leave behind.
Does Jorginho solve Arsenal’s midfield concerns?
Art de Roché: Partially, which is why he has been signed on a short-term, 18-month deal with an option of an extra year.
Midfield back-up was a must for Arsenal heading into the second half of the season following Mohamed Elneny’s ‘significant’ knee injury. Albert Sambi Lokonga has not been convincing as Thomas Partey’s deputy this season — he may depart on loan to Crystal Palace — and, without adding to their options, Arsenal ran the risk of their midfield crumbling should the Ghanaian be ruled out for any protracted length of time, as he was towards the end of last term.
“We need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can,” Mikel Arteta said last week.
So what will he bring to Arsenal?
Mark Carey: Control. He is unlikely to be the one to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but from his time at Chelsea you know that he will frequently get on the ball and keep the play ticking over.
Need evidence of his commanding style? Well, Jorginho has logged four of the top eight occasions of the most successful passes in a Premier League game since 2017-18.
Since the start of last season, the Italian’s turnover rate of 12.8 per cent — which is the share of a player losing possession from their total touches — is the ninth lowest among all defensive and central midfielders with 900-plus minutes played.
Put simply, give Jorginho the ball and he will protect it like it’s his Euro 2020 winner’s medal — you can try to steal it off him, but it’s unlikely you will be successful.
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He will also provide a winning mentality, Premier League experience, and all the cliches that come with it, but that calmness and control on the ball is what Arteta will value the most. That may sound bland, it might not necessarily excite Arsenal fans, but given their push for the title, that experience and authority in central areas could prove to be crucial.
🚨 Jorginho transfer from Chelsea to Arsenal has gone down very well among #AFC squad + staff. Feeling is the midfielder brings technical ability, tactical understanding, experience level ideal for title bid. #CFC happy with money so all win @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/tTguH1Cj5I
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 31, 2023
But he does not immediately feel like a direct replacement for Moises Caicedo, the man Arsenal had hoped to sign…
De Roché: This is where Jorginho does not solve all Arsenal’s midfield concerns. His profile is different from Caicedo’s. The Italy international is 31 and is much more of a distributor in midfield as opposed to somebody who can distribute and break up play effectively.
Moises Caicedo, 21, would have represented a natural progression to the next phase of Arsenal’s midfield development. Instead, Jorginho will arrive charged with helping the team achieve their immediate goals for this season.
Even as a permanent signing, the short-term nature of the deal should allow Arsenal to resume their pursuit of more medium and long-term targets in the summer, with West Ham’s Declan Rice already a priority for that window.
Arsenal’s dominance in Premier League matches may help Jorginho. It is unlikely he will take a starting place. More likely he will see out games when needed, which should suit his passing, possession game. Starts will be more likely to come in Europa League matches, or when the Premier League schedule leaves Arsenal’s midweeks looking cluttered, when the squad is rotated.
Mikel Arteta has always liked Jorginho, hasn’t he?
De Roché: Yes. Arsenal held interest in Jorginho late in the summer window of 2020, with Arteta a fan of the midfielder.
That came just a month after the Spaniard’s switch from head coach to manager, when his all-round influence on the club was solidified. Arsenal’s recruitment approach that summer centred on the addition of more experienced players, such as Willian — a strategy that backfired and prompted a U-turn with the influx of youth beginning in 2021.
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With a young core, they have felt more comfortable approaching more experienced players this month. Leandro Trossard, 28, has made a positive impact since signing from Brighton for £27million ($33.3million). Arsenal will hope Jorginho has a similar effect.
Yet the fact Jorginho has not been in good form for Chelsea of late and is unlikely to provide true competition for places will be a source of frustration for supporters.
Who will take Arsenal’s penalties?
De Roché: The first issue will be whether Jorginho is on the pitch at the same time as Bukayo Saka. Given he is not arriving as a first-choice player in waiting, it feels likelier that Saka keeps his place as Arsenal’s penalty-taker-elect — the 21-year-old has scored all three of the penalties he has taken for the club.
Jorginho’s success rate in the Premier League is 19 scored from 22 taken (86.36 per cent) and will be a strong contender, but Saka being pushed off penalty duty is unlikely.
How will he be remembered by Chelsea supporters?
Simon Johnson: First and foremost, Jorginho will always be respected — deservedly so — for his performances which helped Chelsea win the Champions League in 2021. The second half of the 2020-21 season was definitely the high point of his time in a blue shirt.
Signed from Napoli in 2018, he was considered key to how the team intended to play under Maurizio Sarri, under whose tutelage he had come to the fore at the Serie A side. His close association with Sarri arguably worked against him as the Italian’s tenure quickly petered out, but Jorginho still established himself as one of the main characters in the dressing room under four successive head coaches. He was notably part of a leadership group head coach Graham Potter consulted recently as the team’s form continued to struggle.
But he certainly divided opinion among the fanbase. The midfielder’s play was steady rather than spectacular. Assists and goals from open play were at a premium. While some enjoyed the way he linked moves together, others found him too slow both on and off the ball.
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To secure a transfer fee for an ageing asset with just five months left on his contract is good business. Removing him from the wage bill is also a plus given all the incomings since the new owners took over last May.
What does this mean for Chelsea’s midfield?
Johnson: There is an impression Jorginho has been permitted to leave because the club are about to sign Enzo Fernandez, but that is not the case.
Chelsea have been planning for Jorginho’s departure for some time. He was out of contract at the end of the season anyway and there was no genuine desire, from either party, to extend his stint at Stamford Bridge.
Midfield was quickly identified as an area in need of a refresh and the hope will be that Fernandez, if he can be secured from Benfica, will add more speed and creativity. However, talks are still ongoing with the Portuguese club and the race is on to strike an agreement before the deadline.
Chelsea will still be able to call upon the veterans Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante, soon to return after hamstring surgery. Other options in the middle of the pitch include Denis Zakaria, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Carney Chukwuemeka, Conor Gallagher, youngster Lewis Hall and Mason Mount.
Another possibility is one of their January recruits, Andrey Santos. At 18, he is obviously very raw. However, the Brazilian is demonstrating his vast potential at the Under-20 CONMEBOL Championship (a competition between under-20 international teams from South America).
That said, Chelsea really need Fernandez to arrive to bolster their hopes of improving their position in the Premier League as well as competing more persuasively in the Champions League.
So who will take Chelsea’s penalties now?
Johnson: The hop, skip and jump penalty will no longer be seen at Chelsea — well, not unless one of Jorginho’s former team-mates tries to copy his iconic style.
It was by no means a flawless technique, but Jorginho firmly established himself as the first-choice penalty taker. So who inherits the role?
It is far from a straightforward decision for Potter, not least because Jorginho has enjoyed a stranglehold over the responsibility in recent times. Kai Havertz scored from the spot last year to win Chelsea the FIFA Club World Cup and Mount has also found the net twice for the club from 12 yards, although also missed the decisive kick in the FA Cup final shoot-out last year. Raheem Sterling’s record is only 50-50 from eight attempts.
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Duties could be passed to one of the new signings. Joao Felix, on loan from Atletico Madrid, has scored seven penalties for club and country.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the most experienced — he has scored 34 times from the spot — though he is unlikely to play on a regular basis.
(Lead photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)