Jakub Kiwior in action for Arsenal against Man United (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
He may not be the biggest name in world football, but Jakub Kiwior has proven once again that he has such an important role to play at Arsenal, if only as a squad player.
The Poland international didn’t attract too many headlines when he first joined the Gunners in January 2023 for just €20 million (according to BBC Sportthe report at the time), but it clearly looks like a bargain now.
Whether it’s filling in at centre-back or even slotting in at left-back, Kiwior has proven himself to be Arsenal’s reliable overlord, and there aren’t too many squad players of his caliber in the game.
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This has been widely reported Kiwior could leave Arsenal as Serie A clubs show interest in him, with Sacha Tavolieri among sources to speculate recently on the 24-year-old’s future.
Few could blame Kiwior for wanting to leave for more regular first-team football, but his solid performance in replacing the injured Gabriel Magalhaes against Manchester United yesterday demonstrates his value to Mikel Arteta.
Jakub Kiwior is the type of player Arsenal need to win titles
It wasn’t long ago that we saw Arsenal completely collapse in a Premier League title race when William Saliba was injured in the latter part of the 2022/23 season.
Rob Holding had to replace Saliba in some of Arsenal’s biggest games that season, and you could tell the difference – it was an absolutely monumental drop in quality.
Kiwior, on the other hand, made no mistake against Man United yesterday, although some fans will surely have been nervous about a big name like Gabriel missing out.
All major title winners have had reliable team players like this and so Kiwior must be retained at all costs this January.
The AFC might have some work to do to persuade Kiwior to stay and, above all, to warm the bench at the Emirates Stadium when he could perhaps start for many other top-flight sides, but their job is to put the good of the club first
Signed for a bargain fee, Arsenal must now make sure they don’t make the mistake of letting such a reliable back-up player leave when you never know what kind of serious injuries or big-game suspensions could be around the corner from the corner
