Arsenal could move to cash in on one of their lesser used defenders this summer.
Arsenal could get the chance to cash in on a player that haven’t used all that much in recent times. An interesting summer awaits the Gunners as Mikel Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta assess what went wrong this season how the club can recruit better next time around.
As part of that, there could well be a number of exits to make room for new arrivals, and there are a handful of players who Arteta has consistently overlooked this season.
One of those is versatile defender Jakub Kiwior who, aside from a brief spell when Arsenal had injuries at the back, has barely had a look in. The Poland international was regularly used last season, but he has made only 17 appearances across all competitions this season, with just eight of those appearances coming in the Premier League.
Kiwior is under contract until 2028, but he is regularly being linked with an exit, with most of the reported interested coming from Italy, where he played previously. But according to Tuttomercatoweb, Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen are the latest pushing for his signature ahead of the summer.
The report claims Leverkusen have been doing their research over recent weeks, trying to gauge Kiwior’s situation at the Emirates Stadium and whether he will be available ahead of next season.
Kiwior is valued at £18.4million by Transfermarkt, and given his lack of appearances, Arsenal could look to cash in to help fund their transfers this season, with a striker and a winger needed, while there is also talk of a midfielder signing. Arsenal do not have an unlimited budget, especially with the presence of Profit and Sustainability rules, and so they will likely have to sanction exits while needing to be careful how much squad depth they lose.
We already know Kieran Tierney will leave this summer, so if Kiwior was to leave, he there would be a significant reduction in the depth Arteta currently has at left-back, while Kiwior’s natural position is at centre-back, and Arsenal could arguably do with more depth in that position, too.
Arsenal favourite Ian Wright has previously suggested that Kiwior is done at the club after Arteta decided to overlook the Poland international for a game during William Saliba’s absence in January.
“It’s worrying,” said Wright at the time on The Kelly and Wrighty Show. “If you’re Kiwior right now, you’re probably thinking it’s done. “For me, if you’re going to change like that, I’d have put (Declan) Rice at right centre-back and Timber at right-back.”