Sports

Arsenal Signs £12m Jorginho From Chelsea On 18-month Deal

Arsenal on Tuesday evening confirmed the signing of Italy international midfielder, Jorginho from Premier League rivals, Chelsea.

Jorginho has signed an 18-month deal until the summer of 2024 at the Emirates with the option of a year’s extension into 2025.

The Gunners paid Chelsea an initial £ 10 million with £2 million in add-ons for Jorginho.

The 31-year-old midfielder has won several club and international honours with Chelsea and Italy most notably the UEFA Champions League and Euro 2020 where he was Player of the Tournament.

Jorginho who is of Brazilian descent was unveiled by an excited Technical Director, Edu and manager, Mikel Arteta.

Arteta who has been a long-term admirer of the player stated four reasons why the club who was linked with a club record bid for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo eventually went for the more experienced midfield maestro.

Arteta told the club website: “Jorginho is a midfield player with intelligence, deep leadership skills and a huge amount of Premier League and international experience.

“Jorginho has won in his career, but he still has the hunger and huge willingness to contribute here. We are so pleased to sign Jorginho and welcome him and his family to the club.”

Arsenal’s Sporting Director, Edu highlights why Jorginho would be a great fit for the club which is on a mission to win the title in 19 years.

“Jorginho is an established professional with a strong mentality who brings quality and experience into our squad.

“He is a player who fits our style of play, and he has joined us at a very good moment where he can contribute in a key position to help maintain our momentum. We welcome Jorginho to Arsenal.”

Arsenal’s decision to sign the midfielder became necessary following the knee injury to Mohamed Elneny whose early prognosis shows that he could be put for some months.

The new Arsenal signing has a phenomenal fitness record as he has picked up just one injury since the 2015/16 season which saw him miss only seven days of action.

In his 13-year career, Jorginho has only been unavailable for five league matches.

Izuchukwu Okosi

Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc. In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio. He worked there for 13 years until October 2017. Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch. He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations. Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line. Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.