Arsenal let several players leave on deadline day, after Andrea Berta had spent over £250 million on incoming players.
The Gunners were busy strengthening their squad throughout the summer, signing eight players, and subsequently left sorting out departures until the eleventh hour.
Jakub Kiwior left for Porto on deadline day, while the likes of Reiss Nelson, Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko also exited North London.
One of these stars has just delivered an exceptional display for his national team, and Berta may have been watching on wishing he had earned more from the sale.
Polish media praise Jakub Kiwior for performance vs Finland
Arsenal will earn £23 million from selling Kiwior, who joined Porto on an initial loan deal, with an obligation to buy worth around this value.
Fans were fuming with this fee, with many feeling Berta should have extracted more from the Portuguese giants and one supporter describing the deal as ‘inept’.
These same fans won’t be any less irritated by the deal Porto agreed after hearing how the defender performed for Poland on Sunday against Finland.
The Poles ran out 3-1 winners, courtesy of goals from Matty Cash, Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Kaminski.
Deployed at left-back, Kiwior produced a solid display that earned plaudits from Poland’s national media.
Sporto Wefakty described the 25-year-old’s showing as ‘flawless’, writing: “Like Wiśniewski, his rating is lowered by an error in the 88th minute. He first failed to guard and then block Alho, whose cross and Wiśniewski’s miscue allowed the Finns to score.
“Up to that point, however, he was flawless. It’s hard to believe this was only his second appearance this season. In such circumstances, after 90 minutes in Rotterdam, one could have expected him to struggle in Chorzów. Class.”
Meanwhile, Meczyki awarded him with a seven in their player ratings, writing: “He rarely had to work hard defensively, but he was a reliable presence in the team. He didn’t lose possession under pressure from opponents, and he also played a good pass to Kamiński, who, moments later, forced his opponent into a mistake and initiated a goal-scoring move.”
Arsenal were right to sell Jakub Kiwior at the price they did
Kiwior will become Porto’s second most expensive transfer of all time when the permanent deal goes through next summer.
The former Spezia man also immediately becomes the Primeira Liga club’s highest earner, earning more than Gabri Veiga, who just returned from the Saudi Pro-League.
For this reason, it’s unreasonable to have expected Berta to have made more than £23 million from Porto for Kiwior.
The Portuguese outfit simply don’t have the financial capacity to pay more than this fee and pay wages the player would accept.
Premier League clubs were interested, but Kiwior didn’t reciprocate this interest and pushed for a switch to Porto.
Arsenal could have held the player hostage and blocked the move due to the offer from Porto, but his stock this summer was likely higher than it will be next summer after a year of being on the periphery at the Emirates, and thus, it was the right time to cash in.
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