Arsenal have just announced the signing of Jorginho from Chelsea, the player has joined Arsenal on a contract which lasts until 2024 with an option to extend. Mikel Arteta was said to be a crucial part of the deal, he was the one who convinced Jorginho to join Arsenal. So let’s have a look at why Mikel Arteta wants Jorginho in the squad.
Following our failure in the pursuit of signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton, Arteta had to look out for other options and ended up choosing Jorginho. Jorginho is a build-up specialist, he is secure in possession and also press resistant. In an Arsenal squad, where the team is compact and is filled with technical specialists across the pitch, Jorginho becomes a better player. Because of the squad playing in close proximity Jorginho will be less sloppy when passing the ball around and will have his occasional killer passes that will break the entire defense line.
When the team are building up to their final play Jorginho will no doubt become a key player again, as mentioned before, he is a build up specialist and circulates the ball around really well. This will help to get the ball into the feet of our wingers, Saka and Martinelli, who can then advance play into the final stages.
In terms of passing the ball around, linking-up with team mates and building up the play, Jorginho is one of the best options available. Possessing these qualities alone makes the player well-suited to the Arsenal squad. We discussed how he would fare with our offensive play but given that he would be replacing Thomas Partey in that #6 role he would have to do a lot of defending work too.
Sky Sports recently released a head-to-head of Partey and Jorginho and in that stat comparison, it has been shown that Jorginho slightly edges Partey in the defensive aspect on paper.
Image Credit: Sky Sports
He has a higher tackle rate, more interceptions and ball recoveries as compared to Partey but that does not necessarily mean that he is better at defending than Partey. One of the biggest disadvantages of Jorginho as a defensive midfielder is his physicality, often in isolated 1v1 scenarios Jorginho can be defeated easily but Arsenal’s structure makes a difference here.
They play close and compact and that’s one of the reasons that Jorginho won’t be forced into a defensive 1v1 scenario. Because of Arsenal’s structure Jorginho’s weakness will not be able to be exposed and used against him, he will excel in that position and is perfect for Arsenal. He will prove to be a key player if Arsenal go on to win the Premier League, he adds a lot of quality into our squad and can easily see us even possibly win the UEFA Europa League.
However, it is very evident that this transfer is a short-term solution. Jorginho can operate well as a #6 but when we look at players like Rice and Caicedo they can operate both as a #6 and a #8, which is what makes them a great option is midfield and is the prime reason why they are the permanent solutions.
