Arsenal have completed their second signing of the January transfer window with Jakub Kiwior joining the club from Spezia. An initial fee of £17.5million will be paid to the Italian club with a potential further £3.5million in add ons. His contract will last until 2027 with the option to extend for a further year.
The Polish international is signing number two of the last four days joining Leandro Trossard in securing a permanent transfer to the Gunners, with the Belgian making his debut in Sunday's win over Manchester United. Kiwior's main position in Italy this season has been on the left of a back three, although he can be deployed in a holding midfield role.
Speaking about the transfer, sporting director Edu told the club's offiicial website: “We’re delighted to have completed the signing of Jakub Kiwior. He’s a young talent who we’ve been monitoring for a while now. We are now all looking forward to working with Jakub and seeing his continued development with us. We welcome Jakub to Arsenal.”
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The arrival of Kiwior seemingly solves two minor issues Arsenal were dealing with in terms of squad depth. As a left-footed central defender he can provide the ideal cover to Gabriel Magalhaes, while through his experience in an anchoring midfield role, being able to fill in for Thomas Partey if necessary.
Despite being sat alongside Edu in the executive seats at the Emirates Stadium for the 3-2 win over Manchester United, Mikel Arteta was hesitant to go into any detail about Kiwior's imminent arrival . "We can talk about that when it’s finalised," he told football.london in his post-match press conference.
However, now that it has been confirmed Arteta has given his thoughts on the signing. “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," he told Arsenal's club 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.”
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