Victim of next Arsenal transfer pursuit picks only two clubs he’s interested in turning back on Arteta for

Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior has narrowed down where he might go next if his time at the Emirates Stadium runs out ahead of schedule, according to reports.

It was only around this time last year that Arsenal signed Kiwior from Spezia after his rise to prominence in Serie A. Sadly, he has struggled to build on the momentum he had generated back in Italy.

Gabriel Magalhaes remains the more regular left-footed centre-back in Mikel Arteta’s lineups. Opportunities for Kiwior tend to be quite spread out.

Ahead of the January transfer window, the Poland international began to be linked with a premature departure from Arsenal, who were initially reluctant to part ways with him so soon.

However, their stance has been softening and reports went on to suggest Arsenal would sacrifice Kiwior if they could sign an upgrade of some sort.

Now, TEAMtalk understands Arsenal are in strong contact with the agents of Ajax prospect Jorrel Hato, who is another left-footed centre-back earning experience beyond his years in the Eredivisie.

In theory, if Arsenal can get Hato on board for next season and/or beyond, it could spell trouble for Kiwior.

With that in mind, the existing Arsenal player might be wise to plot his own next steps.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, Kiwior would be interested in returning to Serie A. However, that would only be the case for two specific clubs.

Although he has attracted attention from multiple suitors back in Italy, the only two that appeal to him are Juventus and AC Milan.

That means other interested parties such as Roma would struggle to convince Kiwior to join them instead.

Of the two clubs Kiwior would consider, Milan might be the more likely to move. They have been linked with the 23-year-old for a while due to a plague of injuries in their backline.

In contrast, Juventus have just taken Tiago Djalo – who previously spent time in Milan’s youth setup – from Lille to reinforce their own rearguard.

But the report still concludes a move for Kiwior could be more likely to take place in the summer, rather than this month.

Arsenal still have him under contract until 2028 and are unable to sign Hato until he turns 18 in March, so it might make sense for both deals to be organised at the end of the season.

How have Hato and Kiwior compared this season?

Hato has played in twice as many Eredivisie matches (18) this season as Kiwior has Premier League games.

Adjusting their statistics to be per 90 minutes, it emerges that Kiwior is averaging more tackles (2.4 compared to 2) and clearances (3.6 compared to 3).

However, Hato is performing better with interceptions (1.5, some five times greater than Kiwior’s 0.3) and ball recoveries (5.9 compared to 4.2).

The Ajax youngster is also winning a higher percentage of aerial duels (56.3% compared to just 20%), whereas Kiwior is winning more ground duels (69.2% compared to 61.6%).

In possession, Hato has been better, completing an average of 76.4 passes compared to Kiwior’s 54.

Arsenal will be weighing up the long-term development projections of either player as they aim to finetune their squad for more sustainable attempts at competing for major honours.

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