Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior has said that he was caught off guard by Fabrizio Romano’s ‘Here We Go’ for his move to Porto this summer.
The Poland international signed for the Primeira Liga outfit on loan with an obligation to buy for £22.5 million at the end of the campaign.
The Gunners made his move official on September 1 as a ‘season-long loan‘, and Kiwior has now spoken about the experience in the lead-up.
Speaking to O Jogo, Kiwior said that he refused to say goodbye to his teammates after Romano’s Here We Go update on the 29th of August.
He received numerous messages congratulating him, but he waited until the next day to bid farewell to the manager and players on the pitch.
He said: “It was difficult to say goodbye to Arsenal because I didn’t know when it would actually happen. If I had known the exact day in advance, I would have had time to prepare.
“In the last three days there, I didn’t know which would truly be my last. Fabrizio Romano announced ‘here we go’, and I started receiving dozens of messages and calls congratulating me.
“I was starting training. The players saw it on their phones and asked me why I had put on my kit if it was already closed.
“I refused to say goodbye there because I still didn’t have information about what might or might not happen.
“The next day I returned, already knowing I could say goodbye. I went to the pitch to say goodbye to my teammates and the coach.
“They set up a farewell tunnel, and it was tough. I didn’t have everyone I wanted to say goodbye to, and I still had to make some phone calls.”
Kiwior signed for the Gunners from Spezia in January 2023. He had a mixed start to his career as he struggled to cope with the physicality. He made positional errors too.
However, the 25-year-old made a vast improvement last campaign. He outshone William Saliba in central defence in the final months after Gabriel Magalhaes’ injury.
Despite this, his future was always hanging in the balance. Kiwior had his sights on playing regular first-team football, which Arsenal could not offer him in future.
The move to Porto should prove worthwhile for the Pole. Arsenal have also found a quality replacement in Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen on an initial loan deal.
The Ecuador international is a strong ball-playing centre-back, similar to Kiwior, but he is more aggressive duel winner and should be a quality acquisition for the Gunners.
Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the Premier League campaign after a slender 1-0 loss at Liverpool. The Gunners host Nottingham Forest after the international break.