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Lee Hendrie believes Arsenal made a panic buy by signing Jorginho from London rivals Chelsea on deadline day.
THE LOWDOWN: DEADLINE DAY SIGNING
Arsenal moved fast in the final few weeks of the January Transfer window after the disappointment with Mudryk.
The Gunners put that behind them and went ahead to snap up Brighton star Leandro Trossard and days after, defender Jakub Kiwior completed his switch to the Emirates from Italy.
Following the injury sustained by Mohamed Elneny, Mikel Arteta decided to sign a new midfielder but Brighton refused to let Moises Caicedo leave the Amex.
However, the Gunners settled for Jorginho in the end and he made a switch to the Emirates on deadline day.
THE LATEST: PUNDIT’S POSITION
“It’s almost like it’s a bit of a panic,” said Hendrie.
“With Thomas Partey having this scan, which doesn’t seem to be that bad.
“But where they find themselves in the league, at this moment in time, it’s brilliant. It’s great for the Premier League.
“What they are looking at, if that injury is a lot worse or could get worse, then they need a replacement, don’t they?! Thomas Partey has been fantastic this season
“It’s a bit of a gamble, for me – the Jorginho deal would be a stop-gap to fill in for Partey.”
THE VERDICT: DEFINITELY NOT A GAMBLE
Arteta is a huge admirer of the Italian and both could have worked together at Manchester City when the Citizens wanted to sign Jorginho from Napoli. However, he moved to Chelsea instead.
Jorginho did mention that Arsenal tried to get him before now but it didn’t happen. On closer look, there’s some level of intent on the part of Arteta and Arsenal to get a midfielder in and they settled for the experienced Italian.
