Darren Bent has told talkSPORT that Jorginho was probably the best midfielder Arsenal could get on transfer deadline day, though he would understand fan frustrations had the Chelsea star been their first choice all along.
The Italian was the marquee addition for Mikel Arteta’s men on the final day of the January window. The move came largely out of nowhere, with reports of their interest only emerging on Monday evening.
Of course, the move for Jorginho came about after Arsenal failed with two bids for Moises Caicedo. As noted by The Athletic, the second offer was worth up to £70 million. Jorginho meanwhile, has arrived for just £12 million.
Bent reacts as Arsenal sign Jorginho
The news concerned a lot of Arsenal fans. The Gunners are fighting for the Premier League title. And this is obviously their final opportunity to strengthen the squad.
Bent admitted that he would empathise with supporters who were unhappy if Arsenal had gone for Jorginho all along. However, he actually believes that the Gunners have made a very smart decision, all things considered.
“I think it’s a really shrewd signing. He’s played in big games, the Euros final, he won the Champions League, the Europa League. There’s times when Arsenal are winning games and you want them to have a bit of possession and keep the ball moving. And there’s nobody better than him at doing that,” he told talkSPORT.
“Put it this way, if there was a big pool of midfield players and Arsenal had a lot of money and they could have whoever they wanted, and they opted for Jorginho, I would then go: ‘what? What you doing?’ But the fact of the matter is they tried to get Caicedo, that didn’t work. They’ve flirted with a few others they’ve not managed to get over the line. He’s the next best one that’s available.”
Arsenal did not necessarily need to sign another midfielder. If they are lucky with injuries, Arteta may not need to make a raft of changes with Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard forming such an impressive unit.
Therefore, they did not necessarily need to break the bank to sign Caicedo in this window. Ultimately, Caicedo is still developing. And therefore, there are not many guarantees that the 21-year-old will reach his frightening full potential in the next few months.
Jorginho is not a long-term signing. He is not an exciting signing given some of the other names linked. But he ticks a number of boxes for what Arsenal need right now.
