It’s fair to say that, at the start of this transfer window, Arsenal would not have expected their three additions to include a 28-year-old and a 31-year-old.
But the signings of Leandro Trossard and Jorginho reflect Arsenal’s position. They are more short-term moves, with a very short-term goal in mind: the prospect of a Premier League title.
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Was this the plan? Not really. Arsenal began the window with aspirations of adding Mykhailo Mudryk to their front line, then pivoted to Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo. That they failed to land either of their top targets is disappointing for the club and lessons can surely be learned from how they approached these negotiations. In previous years, they would have responded to missing out by keeping their powder dry, but Arsenal knew that was not an option this time.
There is too much at stake. Arsenal learned from the lessons of last season when they failed to strengthen in January and it arguably cost them their place in the top four. The prize up for grabs now is even more precious: the title itself. The bottom line is that they finish the window with a stronger, deeper squad than they started.
The addition of Jorginho has been divisive among Arsenal supporters. A lot of baggage is attached to recruiting a veteran from Chelsea, especially after the disastrous signing of Willian in 2020. But manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu cannot put too much weight on fan sentiment. Having recognised the Caicedo deal was off, they made a swift, pragmatic move for a player they have long admired.
It is not a deal that significantly encumbers Arsenal’s future plans. The Jorginho fee was widely reported as £12million ($15m), but could rise to £13million if Arsenal become Premier League champions. Should they end up lifting the trophy, they’ll be more than happy to part with that extra £1m.
Crucially, it is a short-term contract — 18 months with the option for an extra year. That relative affordability ensures Arsenal can take a run at long-term targets in the summer — perhaps West Ham United’s Declan Rice, or even returning to Caicedo.
Arsenal feel they have signed a player who offers them quality, experience and a winning mentality. Jorginho has won the Coppa Italia, Europa League, Champions League and Club World Cup. With Italy, he won Euro 2020. In 2021, he came third in the Ballon d’Or. There aren’t many players with equivalent CVs among the Arsenal squad, and his arrival was greeted with widespread positivity at London Colney. For a young group, he could be a valuable addition.
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Despite the speed with which this deal came together, there is considerable history between Arteta and Jorginho.
In the summer of 2018, Arteta was serving as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City. Arteta was one of the biggest proponents of Manchester City attempting to sign Jorginho from Napoli, arguing that he was a perfect fit for Guardiola’s system and could cover the pitch thanks to his tactical awareness. City thought they had a deal at £50million, only for Chelsea to swoop in and gazump them. After the Mudryk saga, Arsenal know all about how that feels.
A year later, Arteta gave an interview to the Spanish newspaper Marca, in which he used Jorginho as a reference point for how he saw the No 6 position. At the time, many teams were playing with a double pivot but City were hoping to sign Rodri to enable them to play with a sole holding midfielder.
“I do not get into names but City’s ‘six’ must understand our game. It is vital,” he said. “He is the one that makes everyone work, frees those in front, and sets the pace. Our position has changed a lot. There are few teams that want to play with a single defensive midfielder, holding the whole game.
“In other teams, that role is not as defined and we are losing the idea of having one who plays there — the Jorginho type, that I love.”
In the summer of 2020, recently installed as Arsenal manager, Arteta considered a move to sign Jorginho from Chelsea. At that point, however, Chelsea said he was not for sale. Arsenal instead made a deadline-day move to activate the release clause for Thomas Partey.
And now, in 2023, Arteta has finally got his man. The question is whether, at 31, this is still the same player the Arsenal manager once so admired. We will only find out how wise this signing was when Jorginho takes to the field.
Given the sense of urgency in the final few days of the window, it’s strange to recall that Arsenal began the month of January not necessarily expecting to sign a central midfielder. It was felt that Mohamed Elneny offered adequate support for Partey, so the position was not a priority. The plan was to focus on an attacking addition — namely Mudryk — and address midfield in the summer.
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Plans change. In the space of a few days, Arsenal lost Mudryk to Chelsea and Elneny to injury. Suddenly, Arsenal had an unexpected amount of money available to spend and an equally unexpected hole in their squad.
Arsenal explored bringing in a premium, big-ticket holding midfielder — someone who could not only provide cover for Partey but ultimately be his successor. This would be a ‘project player’ — someone who fitted the club’s guiding recruitment strategy. The two names at the top of their list were Rice and Caicedo.
Rice already figured prominently in Arsenal’s plans for the summer. Unfortunately, with West Ham in a relegation battle, the chances of them allowing their captain to leave mid-season were slim to none. Rice would also have been reluctant to depart at such a critical moment.
So, in the penultimate week of the window, Arsenal focused on Caicedo. They received encouragement that he would be eager to move and hoped a deal could be struck for around £75million. The price was high but not considered overly unreasonable for a 21-year-old Ecuador international who was already regular at an impressive Premier League side.
Around the same time, Caicedo switched agents and began working with Futbol Division and Epic Sports. That was seen as a positive for Arsenal, who were already in dialogue with Epic owing to the club’s tentative interest in Real Valladolid right-back Ivan Fresneda, one of its clients. Those conversations, which had been focused on the 18-year-old, began to focus on Caicedo.
On January 27, Arsenal tabled an opening bid of £60million for Caicedo. They did not expect it to be accepted — Chelsea had seen a £55million bid rejected out of hand — but hoped it would at least begin a negotiation.
Arsenal misjudged the situation. Brighton dismissed the offer within minutes and made it clear they had no intention of allowing Caicedo to leave.
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Having seen the Mudryk saga become so public, Arsenal actively sought to act with discretion in the Caicedo pursuit. Arteta and Edu circled the wagons and tightened the sharing of information. Any hopes that this deal might be more straightforward, however, ended later that night, when the Caicedo camp — of their own volition — decided to release a statement expressing the player’s desire to leave.
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Overnight, Brighton took the decision to keep Caicedo away from training until the end of the window, ruling him out of Sunday’s FA Cup match with Liverpool. It was a drastic course of action, but one that effectively took away the player’s ability to rock the boat by refusing to train or play.
Brighton’s owner and chairman, Tony Bloom, was insistent Caicedo was not going anywhere. For their part, Arsenal still hoped that the professional poker player was simply bluffing. On January 28, in an attempt to find a breakthrough, a call took place between Bloom and Arsenal board member Tim Lewis. The discussions reached a dead end — Brighton were not for moving.
Nevertheless, Arsenal resolved to try again. On January 29, they raised their offer to £65million plus £5million in potential add-ons. Again, the offer was dismissed. Brighton were perplexed and irritated Arsenal had not got the message. The relationship between the clubs, which had been cordial through negotiations for Ben White and Leandro Trossard, has been damaged.
With it becoming increasingly obvious that an agreement for Caicedo was out of reach, Arsenal regrouped on Monday — the eve of the transfer window. The task now was to find a deal for a midfielder that could be completed in around 36 hours.
Caicedo and Rice were not the only midfielders discussed in the course of the window — Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad and Edson Alvarez of Ajax were among the names considered. Arsenal were willing to trigger the €60million release clause for Zubimendi, but the Spanish international preferred to remain in San Sebastian until the summer. Arsenal have been impressed with Charlie Patino’s form at Blackpool, but there were no discussions about bringing him back from his loan prematurely.
In the final days of the window, Arsenal were offered other midfield players by intermediaries. Many of these simply did not meet Arteta’s specifications. Jorginho, ultimately, was the exception.
The addition of 22-year-old Jakub Kiwior is more in line with Arsenal’s model. They had planned to recruit the left-footed centre-half in this window for some time. Edu made initial contact with Spezia and the player’s camp in December, before Kiwior’s agent was invited to London Colney for further talks.
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This deal caught many fans — and indeed media — off-guard. Although there have been reports of a ‘confidentiality clause’, Arsenal simply entered into a gentleman’s agreement with Kiwior’s camp to keep things under wraps. That they managed to do so, especially while recruiting in the transfer-crazy media landscape of Italy, is a source of pride for all parties.
Deadline day also saw two first-team players leave the club on loan: Albert Sambi Lokonga joined up with Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace and Cedric was reunited at Fulham with Marco Silva, who coached him at Sporting Lisbon. The decision to let Lokonga leave arguably incurs some risk, but ultimately Arsenal chose to respect the player’s desire for regular football. No decision has yet been reached on either player’s future beyond the summer. As for Elneny, Arsenal are considering activating the one-year option on his contract, rather than releasing him partway through his rehabilitation.
It is a compliment to Eddie Nketiah’s form that a new centre-forward to replace Gabriel Jesus was never under discussion. Arsenal had the option of recalling Folarin Balogun from Reims, but it would have incurred certain financial penalties, and was not considered best for the striker’s development.
Nevertheless, the arrivals of Kiwior, Jorginho and Trossard mean Arsenal end the window with new signings in defence, midfield and attack. They did not get the marquee names they hoped for, and there are lessons to be learned from those unsuccessful pursuits. Arsenal’s squad is now at the level where the players likely to help them move forward will be in high demand. They must learn to close on those key targets.
The signings they have made are less spectacular but may ultimately prove to be sensible in supporting Arsenal’s title chase.
(Additional reporting: David Ornstein)
(Lead picture produced by Sam Richardson using Getty Images)
