According to football writer David Ornstein, Arsenal only acquired Jorginho from Chelsea because they were unable to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Caicedo was coveted by both Arsenal and Chelsea, who made opening offers of £60 million and £55 million, respectively. Both proposals were turned down by the Seagulls, who valued the Ecuadorian midfielder at £90 million (as per The Independent).
According to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, the Gunners subsequently improved upon their initial offer and submitted a £70 million approach, which Brighton once again refused.
Despite Caicedo publicly pleading with the Brighton leadership to allow him to leave the club in search of elite football, the two teams were unable to move their negotiations for Caicedo forward.
On deadline day, Arsenal turned their attention to Chelsea midfielder Jorginho and paid £12 million to sign the Italian. On Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel, Ornstein has since provided a glimpse inside the transfer activity of the north London team.
A journalist with The Athletic stated (via HITC):
“It was more of a reaction to missing out on Moises Caicedo. Although it’s not a like-for-like replacement it was conceivable that Jorginho would move because he’s out of contract in the summer and there were no talks about a new deal. He’s a player Arsenal has liked for a long time and they tried to sign him previously.”
At Stamford Bridge, Jorginho has enjoyed a successful career, taking home one UEFA Champions League trophy and one UEFA Europa League trophy. Since winning UEFA’s prize for Best Player in Europe in 2021, Italy international has seen a little bit of a drop in performance.
However, with his extensive Champions League and Premier League experience, the 31-year-old could prove to be a valuable addition to the Arsenal ranks.
