Premier League leaders Arsenal have completed a £12 million deal to sign Jorginho from Chelsea on transfer deadline day.
The Gunners targeted the 31-year-old Italy midfielder after Brighton rejected two bids for Moises Caicedo, with the Ecuadorean set to stay at the south coast club.
Manager Mikel Arteta had been looking to strengthen his midfield options after Mohamed Elneny picked up a knee injury in training before Arsenal’s North London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
“We need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can,” the Spaniard said last week. “In this market it’s pretty complicated to do that.”
Chelsea are willing to let Jorginho go as they pursue their own interest in a potentially British transfer record-breaking deal for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez.
Jorginho joined Chelsea from Serie A side Napoli in 2018 and is in the final six months of his Stamford Bridge contract. He made 213 appearances for the club, scoring 29 goals, winning the Champions League, Europa League, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup along the way.
The midfielder was born in Brazil but moved to Italy at the age of 15 and opted to play for the Azzurri at international level.
Biggest deals of transfer window
Arsenal and Arteta tried to sign Jorginho in the summer of 2020, a year before the he won the Champions League with the Blues and the European Championships with Italy.
Arteta was also the assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City when they tried to sign him in 2018 – but Jorginho turned down the move and joined Chelsea, then managed by his countryman Maurizio Sarri.
He is set to become Arsenal's third signing of the January window, the club having already signed Poland defender Jakub Kiwior from Spezia for £17.6m and Belgium striker Leandro Trossard, who moved from Brighton for £21m.
Arsenal are currently five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table with a game in hand on Guradiola's side. They have won 16 out of 19 games, losing just once, and are through to the last-16 of the Europa League having finished top of their group.
