It’s never easy for a player to leave one big London club for another, but that’s exactly what Jorginho did in January when he switched Chelsea for Arsenal.
The Italian spent four-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge and was always a key player there. He even helped them win the Champions League and stayed true to the Blues as long as he was there.
However, once an opportunity presented itself to sign for Arsenal in January, he grabbed it with both hands, and Jorginho has revealed what surprised him after joining us.
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Jorginho names the one thing that surprised him after joining Arsenal from Chelsea
Arsenal’s main target in January was Mykhaylo Mudryk, and we did everything we possibly could to get him to the Emirates in the winter window.
However, Chelsea outbid us – both in terms of transfer fee and salary – and the Ukrainian moved to Stamford Bridge instead.
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Instead of blowing our money on another super-expensive player, Arsenal decided to be smart. Edu pulled off bargain deals for Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho, and all of them have delivered so far.
Jorginho, in particular, was one who raised eyebrows when we went after him, but he has surprised many with his performances in the famous red and white.
Now, speaking about what surprised him at Arsenal, he has revealed that he didn’t quite expect to be as well-welcomed as he was by everyone at the club.
The Italian told The Evening Standard: “To be honest, I was surprised but really happy by how welcome I was, how (Arsenal) treated me when I came in.
“It just made everything so much easier for me to know more people to integrate in the team. So, it was really, really, really good and I am really, really happy.”
The Insider’s View:
No Arsenal fan really wanted to see Jorginho at the Emirates when our actual preferred target was Moises Caicedo, but everyone can agree now that he has been a brilliant signing.
The former Chelsea man has played just 16 times for us and he has been excellent in almost every one of those games. He stepped up when Thomas Partey’s form fell off the cliff, and he impressed.
Arsenal have a really young squad and it’s not always easy for our inexperienced players to cope with pressure. An experienced player like Jorginho putting his arm around them must surely help.
The Italian has now confirmed that he will be staying at Arsenal next season, and even though he may not start every game, he has a big role to play behind the scenes.