Talk about an uncharacteristic error. As Arsenal found themselves 1-0 down at home to Aston Villa on a Sunday of shocks in the Premier League, one of the most experienced, most reliable members of Mikel Arteta’s squad inadvertently set Ollie Watkins away to score the decider with an attempted pass maybe best described as ‘ill-advised’.
You can probably count on one hand all the times the Arsenal midfielder has given the ball away in recent months.
But even the masterful Jorginho is not immune to the odd blunder. The Italy international’s through ball telegraphed easily by a Villa side who turned defence into attack in an instant, Unai Emery triumphing at the home of the club who sacked him back in 2019.
Jorginho could leave Arsenal this summer
The story of Jorginho’s Arsenal career, so far, has been one of near misses. The Gunners appeared to be threatening to run away with the title when the veteran playmaker joined from Chelsea in January 2023 and ending up choking on Manchester City’s dust.
Needing a win away at Bayern Munich to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and slipping two points behind City domestically, the next few weeks will decide whether Jorginho’s first – and maybe last – full season at the Emirates ends in glory. Or, instead, more disappointment.
The 32-year-old’s £110,000-a-week contract expires in July.
His agent, Joao Santos, had opened up the door to a reunion with former Chelsea and Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri prior to his departure from the Lazio dugout. Speaking to TV Play, Santos also discussed the prospect of Jorginho returning to Serie A with Juventus or Fiorentina, refusing to rule out either option.
“In my opinion, (Juventus) don’t need a player like Jorginho,” the agent argues. “If (director Cristiano) Giuntoli ever needs a midfielder like Jorginho, however, he can always contact me.”
As for Fiorentina, Santos said; “First of all, we need to understand if they are really thinking about Jorginho.
“It is an ambitious project. A club that wants to aim for the Champions League, there would be no problems for us. At the moment, however, Fiorentina have not contacted us.”
Serie A return possible for former Chelsea star
Arsenal, HITC understands, have identified a number of midfield targets as potential Jorginho replacements. There is interest in Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, with his own contract situation uncertain.
The leading targets, however, remain Real Sociedad enforcer Martin Zubimendi and Aston Villa ace Douglas Luiz, a player with long-time admirers in North London.
“(Kimmich) can go in that inverted right-back role like (Oleksandr) Zinchenko does. But we have Tomiyasu, Ben White, who has been one of Arsenal’s players of the season,” Perry Groves, a two-time First Division champion with Arsenal, told talkSPORT while warning Arteta off the Bayern ace (9 April, 1pm).
“(White) has been outstanding. That link he has with (Bukayo) Saka on the right-hand side, and his defending one-v-one… He’s one of the few full-backs who presses and actually stops the crosses.
“Kimmich, yeah you want as many quality players as possible. But no, (we don’t need to sign him) at all.”
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