Arsenal have made their second signing of the January transfer window, with the Gunners confirming a £21million deal for Spezia defender Jakub Kiwior on Monday night.
Following Arsenal 's 3-2 win over Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, the Gunners sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand on second-placed Manchester City. January signing Leandro Trossard made his Arsenal debut off the bench against United, and Mikel Arteta has now strengthened his squad further to ensure his side can continue their push for the title with the arrival of Kiwior.
A regular for Poland in the 2022 World Cup, the 22-year-old defender will cost an original fee of £17.5million, with the remaining £3.5million in potential add-ons, football.london understands. Kiwior was spotted in attendance at the game against United, with the defender's contract set to run until 2027.
READ MORE: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Eddie Nketiah's form, title hopes and Jakub Kiwior transfer
So, how could the arrival of Kiwior impact the Gunners during the remainder of the season? We simulated the rest of the season with the defender in the squad to try and find out.
Arsenal's 2022/23 season simulated with Jakub Kiwior
To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2023 to arrange for the defender to join Arsenal this month, using FM23 to run the simulation. We then simulated the remainder of the 2022/23 season to judge the impact the Polish man could have.
With the Gunners impressing defensively already this season, it was always going to be tough to break up the centre-back partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba. Kiwior was unable to become a regular in the side during his first few months with the club, but he still managed to earn a decent amount of playing time.
In his first season with the Gunners, Kiwior started seven games and made a further 12 appearances off the bench, scoring one and assisting one in that time. Interestingly, both goal contributions both came in the same game, a 4-2 win over Everton.
The defender made 15 of his appearances in the Premier League whilst also featuring in the FA Cup and Europa League. The 22-year-old averaged a rating of 6.94 per game across all competitions, the sixth-best out of all Arsenal's defenders in the simulation.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Saliba and Rob Holding averaged the best ratings out of Arsenal's defenders, with the latter impressing in very limited game time. Gabriel made the most appearances out of the Arsenal defenders during the season, whilst Benjamin White and Kieran Tierney were the only defenders to average a lower rating than Kiwior.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Arsenal XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Arsenal best XI: (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus.
Due to his limited appearances, Kiwior failed to make the Arsenal best XI, with the partnership of Gabriel and Saliba remaining. Tomiyasu and Zinchenko started on either side of defence ahead of White and Tierney, whilst the midfield and attack were as expected.
Arsenal's results with Kiwior from the 2022/23 season
The Gunners showed no sign of slowing down over the course of the season, with Arteta's side dropping points in just five of their remaining 19 games. Two losses against Manchester City could have made for a very interesting title race, but Pep Guardiola's side failed to find consistency, and Arsenal won the Premier League title.
Arteta's side managed 95 points across the 38 games, finishing 13 points ahead of City and Newcastle, who were joint on 82 points in second and third. Chelsea pipped Man United to the fourth place spot as well in the simulation after Erik ten Hag's side lost five of their last eight games.
Arteta's side ended the season as the league's top scorers with 77 goals scored, whilst they also had the best defence in the league, with Kiwior's addition helping them concede just 21 goals across the season. Things got better for Arsenal in the cup competitions as well, with Arteta's side finding success in Europe in the simulation.
Goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli secured a 2-0 win over Roma in the Europa League final, despite Thomas Partey seeing red in the 61st minute. They couldn't make it a treble though, losing 2-0 to Man City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Overall, the Football Manager simulation predicts that Kiwior could be a great squad player for the Gunners, with the defender a perfect rotation option to help keep the Gunners squad fresh during the remainder of the season.
Despite not averaging the best rating per game, the 22-year-old added some much-needed depth to the squad to help Arteta's side compete in all competitions, ultimately playing a part in Arsenal winning both the Premier League and Europa League.
Will Kiwior would be a good signing for Arsenal? Let us know in the comments below!
READ NEXT:
Arsenal complete Jakub Kiwior transfer with £21m Spezia deal
Arsenal's triple boost confirmed after beating Manchester United and Premier League rule reset
Bukayo Saka reveals what Mikel Arteta said to Arsenal squad in dressing room after Man Utd win
Find the footballs on the football.london website to win cash prize, vouchers and TV worth £3,000
Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from the Emirates Stadium
