Mikel Arteta personally made a request to Arsenal’s board but the Kroenkes rejected it

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has not been getting any of his wishes at Arsenal recently.

The Spaniard has done a remarkable job over the last five years. He has transformed an average Gunners side into one of the best teams in the Premier League and even the world.

As Arsenal aim to take the next step, Arteta publicly claimed that he needed a new striker, but that plea was not fulfilled by the board in the winter window.

Now, another one of Arteta’s requests has been denied by the decision-makers of the club.

Mikel Arteta’s Jorginho plea was ‘thwarted’ by Arsenal’s board

Jorginho is one of Arsenal’s most important players.

The Italian is by no means a regular starter under Arteta, but his experience and leadership behind the scenes is a big help to the younger players.

That is one of the reasons why Arteta values Jorginho a lot, and the Arsenal manager has been really keen to extend the former Chelsea star’s stay at the Emirates.

Jorginho’s current deal runs out this summer, and O Dia in Brazil claim that Arteta personally requested the Arsenal hierarchy to sign off on a new deal for the midfielder.

However, the board, which is led by the owners Stan and Josh Kroenke and executive vice-chair Tim Lewis, were not prepared to say yes to their manager.

The report claims that Arteta’s request to retain Jorginho’s services was ‘thwarted’ by the board.

Now, Jorginho is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with Flamengo over a free transfer at the end of his contract at Arsenal in July.

Who is right – Arsenal’s board or Mikel Arteta?

As the manager of the club, Arteta should be the one deciding who stays and who goes, but the board have their say as well.

Arteta wanted to keep the Italian, and it’s understandable why, but the board have their reservations because Jorginho is on £110,000-a-week wages and is 33 already.

We don’t often do this, but we have to defend the Arsenal board here.

Yes, Jorginho’s experience is very important, but it makes no sense to extend his stay at the club because of his age, wages and expected playing time.

Arsenal are set to sign Martin Zubimendi in that role, and with Myles Lewis-Skelly already available to provide support in that position, letting Jorginho leave is the right decision.