Arsenal may have signed another Willian on January transfer deadline

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Arsenal may have pulled off an unfortunate transfer repeat on January deadline day, which could follow the same pattern as Willian’s move from Chelsea in 2020. Italian midfield general Jorginho has taken the identical path from Stamford Bridge to the Emirates, and not everyone is convinced that it will be a success. 

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was intent on signing a new midfielder before the end of the month. Bids came and went for Moises Caicedo but Brighton didn’t bite, while links to Ibrahima Bamba and Martin Zubimendi never came to fruition. 

Arsenal eventually turned to Jorginho on deadline day, putting together a cut-price £12million deal for the 31-year-old, who was set to be out of contract at the end of the season. The outgoing Blues midfielder is likely to come in as fourth choice in central midfield with Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka in fine form. 

The transfer pursuit was given extra urgency in the knowledge that Mohamed Elneny would be out for the rest of the season through injury, and Arsenal acted quickly to tie up negotiations with Chelsea. 

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The signing divided supporters, and while the players were reportedly pleased by the development, all involved will hope that it doesn’t follow a trend of other players who traded Chelsea for Arsenal in the past. 

Since 2010, the Gunners have snapped up four players from their cross-city rivals, with all of them arriving in north London beyond the age of 30. Petr Cech may well have been the only success with Yossi Benayoun, David Luiz and Willian generally disappointing. 

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Willian signed a big-money deal at the Emirates but only spent one season working under Arteta, during which he scored a measly one goal in 37 appearances across all competitions. The Brazilian has recently rediscovered good form with Fulham, but his career was briefly derailed by the glum stint at Arsenal as a dreary spell with Corinthians followed. 

The Gunners faithful will hope that Jorginho breaks the mould and follows the example of Cech, who steadied the ship during his four-year stint, rather than Willian. The new signing began his career with Hellas Verona, moving on to Napoli in 2014 before arriving in England four years later. 

With fans waiting to discover whether Jorginho will slot seamlessly into Arteta’s plans or potentially disrupt the club’s title-chasing rhythm, former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp has cast doubt on the signing. 

“I wouldn’t see where he would fit,” he told talkSPORT. “I couldn’t see him getting in the team, to be fair. He is a top player. That Arsenal team, at the moment, that starting XI, there aren’t many places up for grabs, are there?! It looks like a fantastic team, a well-balanced team and everything looks right.”

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