Arteta blocked summer exit for 23-year-old, he was impressive in Arsenal’s recent win

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Arsenal are now blessed with a deep squad with quality all over the pitch, but there was interest in a number of their players over the summer.

It was recently revealed that Mikel Arteta blocked an exit for popular defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, and it has now emerged that he also stopped Jakub Kiwior from leaving.

The Poland International joined in the January transfer window, but despite being impressive when he has played, he is yet to break into a regular role in the back line.

Arteta blocked Kiwior exit

A report from Polish outlet TVP Sport has now revealed that Arsenal’s last Champions League opponents Sevilla were keen on signing Kiwior in the summer window, but Arteta blocked the move as he wanted to keep the 23-year-old in his squad.

Sevilla lost left-footed centre-back Karim Rekik in the summer, and it is clear why they wanted Kiwior to replace him given his profile as a technically strong, left-sided defender.

Kiwior’s importance to Arsenal

Although he does not appear regularly, Kiwior plays an important role in the Arsenal squad. He is the main backup for Gabriel Magalhaes, and rotated in for him for Saturday’s 5-0 win over Sheffield United.

He played superbly on Saturday, but given the Brazilian’s form, he will still find it tough to start ahead of him regularly.

Kiwior is also capable of playing as a left-back and provides an alternative option to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Although left-footed, he has played on the right side of central defence, as Arteta eventually corrected his mistake of playing Rob Holding during last season’s title race ahead of Kiwior when William Saliba picked up an injury.

There was little chance that Kiwior would have been allowed to leave this summer, and he will be an important option in the long term, even though he has not featured regularly so far.