Jorginho wasn’t even the first Chelsea midfielder on Arsenal’s shortlist

Arsenal shocked a lot of people when they signed Jorginho on deadline day of the most recent January transfer window. This is because the club’s interest in the Chelsea midfielder was unknown and came so quickly after failing to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton.

It’s been stated many times that Jorginho is only a short-term solution. This is obvious given his age of 31 years old and the way he doesn’t fit into the current Arsenal team, let alone in the near-future. But, regardless of this, who would have thought that Jorginho wasn’t even the first option of Chelsea midfielders?

According to Le Parisien (via the Mirror), Arsenal had originally enquired about signing N’Golo Kante before they signed Jorginho on deadline day. Kante would have had much less of a problem settling into this Arsenal team, given his sheer work rate and defensive talents.

It’s not the first time that Arsenal have been interested in signing Kante either. However, in the past, Kante has been much more comfortable at his club so signing him back then was not likely. Given that he didn’t fit into Graham Potter’s plans at the time and had been absent for some time, trying to sign him in the January transfer window was a wise move from a Gunners perspective.

Jorginho has come up with a big moment already in his Arsenal career. While the goal wasn’t given as his, he forced a late winner against Aston Villa to snatch all the three points, following an impressive shot from outside of the box which the fan favourite Emiliano Martinez expertly headed home. Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.

I wouldn’t read too much into this report. While it is likely to be true given the club’s interest in Kante previously, Mikel Arteta and his team have a habit of getting the best out of their plan B.