All eyes are on who Arsenal bring in during the summer transfer window, but the early moments of the market have revolved around departures.
The first permanent exit was Nuno Tavares’ departure to Lazio, as the defender penned a contract with the Italian side.
Tavares’ sale came as no surprise, as did the transfer of Kieran Tierney, who will sign for Celtic at the expiration of his Arsenal contract on June 30th.
Tierney’s departure was confirmed when Arsenal announced their retained list, with Jorginho another first-teamer who left the Emirates.
Jorginho reacts to terminating his Arsenal contract
Though Jorginho was one of the players who had an Arsenal contract expiring in 2025, the Italian’s exit did require some financial input.
Returning to his birth country of Brazil, Jorginho signed for Flamengo ahead of the Club World Cup, but had to terminate his Arsenal contract early to do so.
The Brazilian club had to register the midfielder promptly, a move that cost the 33-year-old £500,000.
After bringing his stay in N5 to a premature close, Jorginho was quizzed on the decision by the media once he was unveiled by Flamengo.
As relayed by Ge Globo, the Italy international doubled down on his decision to cut ties with Arsenal early in order to represent the Rio de Janeiro side at the Club World Cup.
“The desire to experience all this here is so great that we end up doing a lot of things, and I’m very happy with the decision I made.”
Arsenal won’t be at the Club World Cup, but Jorginho will be for the second time in his career, and it’s fair to say the veteran is looking forward to playing a part in the competition.
“The expectations for the World Cup are very high. It’s an international competition that I really want to play in, too. I believe that’s it.”
Though Jorginho penned an emotional message to thank Arsenal after his departure, the midfield maestro hasn’t looked back, admitting that choosing Flamengo was ‘easy’.
Jorginho is already training with Flamengo
Jorginho hadn’t played for Arsenal since April but returned to the bench on the final game of the season after suffering a bad injury.
Arteta described Jorginho’s injury as a ‘scary situation’, as his problem ended his playing days at Arsenal.
Fortunately, the midfielder is back and ready to make an impact at Flamengo, as the Brazilian club pictured the 33-year-old in training.
Jorginho isn’t wasting any time getting into the swing of things in Brazil with the Club World Cup firmly on his mind.
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