Arsenal have bolstered their first-team squad even further with the signing of Jakub Kiwior from Spezia in a deal worth £21m.
The Poland international became the Gunners' second signing of the January transfer window - after Leandro Trossard's arrival from Brighton & Hove Albion last Friday - when his move was announced on Monday evening, leaving Mikel Arteta delighted to have added to the defensive unit.
"It’s great that Jakub is joining us. He’s a young versatile defender who has shown huge potential and qualities with Spezia in Serie A, and also at international level with Poland," the Spaniard told the club's official website. "Jakub is a player who will give us strength and quality to our defensive unit. We welcome Jakub and his family to Arsenal and look forward to working with him."
READ MORE: Arsenal complete Jakub Kiwior transfer with £21m Spezia deal
Kiwior's arrival not only increases the depth at centre-back for Arsenal, but it also means Gabriel Magalhaes has legitimate competition for his place in the side. Of course, in William Saliba, Rob Holding and Ben White there are plenty of options at Arteta's disposal, but it's no secret that he prefers a natural left-footer as the left-sided defender.
And following the decision to let Pablo Mari join Monza on loan in the summer transfer window, it has resulted in the Brazilian starting every single Premier League fixture so far this season, featuring in all but one Europa League group stage match as well as appearing in both domestic cup ties.
At some point, Gabriel will get his well-deserved rest and the signing of Kiwior allows for those plans to be accelerated as the north London outfit's fixture list is about to get rather hectic with two games against Manchester City and trips to Everton and Aston Villa all on the horizon in the next month.
But interestingly, Arteta had previously talked up Takehiro Tomiyasu as a possible backup option for Gabriel: "[Tomiyasu] can play central defender as well. Tomi has been playing left centre-back for the Japan national team, when you look at his games, he is great," the Spaniard said earlier in the season.
"He can play as a left-back because you could not tell if he’s a right or left-footed player. So, we have the options there and we have to utilise them in the best possible way, especially with the number of minutes we’re going to have in the next few weeks. It’s great that players are comfortable in more than one position."
These comments and the fact Tomiyasu was told to warm up instead of Holding when Gabriel required treatment against Brentford back in September were, at the time, seen as the clearest 'confirmation' yet that the £18m signing from Bologna in the summer of 2021 was now the back-up left-sided centre-back option.
Furthermore, the 24-year-old's two-footedness and experience of playing as the left-sided central defender for his national team - as seen during the World Cup - meant he could have been the perfect option to replace Gabriel when he needed a breather. However, it's noticeable that for whatever reason, Arteta decided against this experiment.
And now with the signing of Kiwior, it effectively confirms that Tomiyasu's role for the remainder of the season will be as a full-back, whether that's competing with Ben White on the right-hand side or Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney on the opposite flank.
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