Why Arsenal signing Jorginho could be BETTER than Moises Caicedo in midfield

Arsenal have accepted defeat in their pursuit of Moises Caicedo, but in Jorginho perhaps Mikel Arteta’s side have stumbled upon a better option to bring them home the title. 

The Gunners, who sit five points ahead of Manchester City atop the Premier League table with a game in hand, saw their £70million bid for Caicedo rejected in what was their third attempt to lure the midfielder away from Brighton.  

Wasting no time, Arsenal quickly turned their attention to Jorginho, and announced they had signed the Italian on an 18-month contract on Tuesday.

Arteta has been desperate to add a midfielder to his ranks during the January transfer window with both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny currently out injured. 

The Spaniard is a long-term admirer of Jorginho, who was available on the cheap with his Chelsea contract expiring this summer. The Blues are also in hot pursuit of Enzo Fernandez, in a transfer that would have pushed the 31-year-old further down the pecking order. 

The arrival of Jorginho has divided the Arsenal fanbase, having struggled for form this season with Chelsea down in 10th in the table. Yet, the stats show that the midfielder, who scored 29 goals in 213 games for Chelsea, may actually be an astute signing. 

The Gunners decided to accept Brighton ‘s resistance to selling Moises Caicedo (above) 

Mikel Arteta (left) has been desperate to add a midfielder to his ranks during the January transfer window as both Thomas Partey (right) and Mohamed Elneny are currently out injured

Perhaps one of the major concerns among the Arsenal faithful is Jorginho’s ability to cover the pitch in Partey’s absence, with Ghanaian’s workrate being fundemental to their success in recent months. 

Yet, from the start of last season, Jorginho has actually covered more ground on average than both Partey and Arsenal’s first-choice option Caicedo – and by quite a margin. The 31-year-old covers an average of 11.1km per 90 in the Premier League, with Partey down at 10.5 and Caicedo at 10.2. 

He has also scored more goals (8) than both Partey (4) and Caicedo (2), though all of them have come from the penlaty spot. Nevertheless, he has also made more passes, more forward passes and with a better accuracy than both Partey and Caicedo.