Arsenal are not sleeping in this January Transfer Window as they complete the signing of Spezia defender Jakub Kiwior.
After announcing Leandro Trossard as their first signing of the window, Arsenal’s January transfer activity is now fully underway.
Edu Gaspar has made sure Kiwior is a gunner following Trossard’s £21 million move from Brighton to the Emirates Stadium.
The world-class Pole became Arsenal’s second recent signing after making an impression at the World Cup in Qatar.
The Gunners were trying to expand Mikel Arteta’s roster and Kiwior was the ideal addition.
The Spezia prospect can also play holding midfield, allowing him to cover for Thomas Partey, who has been crucial to Arsenal’s attempt to win the Premier League this season.
Jakub Kiwior, a new player for Arsenal, will finish his physical checks in London today and then travel to Emirates.
Yesterday afternoon, agreements were already completed between Arsenal and the Serie A team Spezia.
The outstanding defender, who hails from Poland, was spotted arriving in London earlier today, according to Futballnews on Twitter.
With a game left to play, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team leads the Premier League standings by five points above league champions Manchester City.
The starting eleven has performed admirably for the coach this season, winning 15 of their 18 games while surrendering just 14 goals.
Recently, Arsenal failed to land Ukrainian superstar and lost the longtime Gooner Mykhailo Mydryk to competitors Chelsea, who are comfortably in middle in EPL table in contrast. But they have been able to make up for that with two signings, Trossard and Kiwior.
Jakub Kiwior
Jakub Piotr Kiwior, a professional footballer from Poland who was born on February 15, 2000, plays center defender for the Poland national team and Serie A club Spezia.
In just three months after making his debut in Poland with GKS Tychy of the Fortuna 1 Liga, Kiwior was signed by Belgian club Anderlecht, where he would play only at the youth level.
Kiwior joined the Slovakian team Podbrezova without making the first team, and after only six months moved quickly north to MSK Zilina.
The center back signed with Italian club Spezia for €2.2 million in August 2021, and since then, he has made 61 appearances and started 17 of the team’s 18 competitive games in 2022–2023.
How Good Is Kiwior?
The Pole, who prefers to play as a left-sided center-back because of his left-footedness, is equally at ease playing on the right side of a back two.
Kiwior is a very flexible player, as we have seen with other Arteta additions like ex-Man City star Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The 22-year-old has a history of playing left back and has even been known to play defensive midfield on occasion.
As Arsenal searches for players to fill a range of positions, Serie A powerhouses AC Milan and Juventus also took notice of Kiwior’s performances for Spezia in a variety of roles.
How Will Kiwior Fit Into Arsenal?
However, the primary purpose of his signing is to offer defensive insurance in that left center-back position, especially for Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Brazilian has played flawlessly so far this season and has even scored two league goals.
Nevertheless, he has started all but one of Arsenal’s 21 games in all competitions this season, and Arteta has very little backup in that position should Gabriel need to miss a significant amount of time.
The obvious choice would be Ben White, but the England international has performed admirably at right-back for the Gunners thus far this season, and Rob Holding is arguably too much of a step back for a protracted stint in the first team.
However, Kiwior’s adaptability will be useful and should provide Arteta enough depth.
