Jakub Kiwior had interest from big Italian clubs Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan, as per his agent, but when Arsenal came calling it was “difficult to say no”.
The move for Kiwior seemed a smart one from the Gunners. They have two quality centre-backs in William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, along with Ben White for cover.
As such, a new centre-back signing was likely to provide depth in the position, but not necessarily start. Still, having quality players behind starting options is important, especially for a side who are challenging for the title.
Mikel Arteta seems to have picked a player who has a bright future. That he’s already played nine times for Poland and was a regular in Serie A football at 22 years old shows early signs of that.
His quality is reinforced by the options he had in Italy before he decided on Arsenal. Indeed, his agent explains some of Serie A’s biggest sides were after him before he made the move to the Emirates.
“All the important Italian clubs other than Inter Milan showed interest, including Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus,” he said, quoted by Metro.
“However, with Napoli’s current situation, they didn’t need to change their team in January and wanted to continue talks in the summer.
“You all know what happened at Juventus, while Milan also waited, and you know what happens when the Premier League clubs come in.”
Arsenal clearly offer a big pull, with an exciting project, a core of great young talent and a genuine chance at winning the league. That seems to be why Kiwior couldn’t say no to the opportunity when it was presented.
“When a side like Arsenal come along, it becomes difficult for a 22-year-old to say no. If it was Juventus or another big club coming in, it may well have been the same situation, but Arsenal are the only side who really pushed the talks forward,” his agent added.
“We honestly didn’t expect it to all move so fast, we thought he would stay in January and leave Spezia in June.
“Arsenal came in and the player did not put pressure on his club, he just said that if the move was to happen, then good, otherwise he was happy to wait.”
Arsenal will hope their decision to jump at the chance is vindicated in the future, as it seems they’ve got a good asset on their hands.
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