‘Indispensable’ Arsenal star decides to ‘leave’ for ‘new adventure’ and ‘offers’ himself to Euro giant
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has decided to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer and wants to join Barcelona, according to reports.
The Gunners have been in great form since the turn of the year with Mikel Arteta’s side winning their last eight Premier League matches to move top of the table.
Jorginho to leave Arsenal at the end of the season?
Arsenal are also in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they will face Bayern Munich, and Jorginho has played his part this season with Thomas Partey out injured.
The Italy international has made 28 appearances in all competitions this season but his contract at Arsenal runs out at the end of the current season.
A report in late February suggested that Arsenal were preparing to open negotiations over a new deal with the Gunners also having the option to extend his contract for a further year.
That report claimed that a new one-year deal with the option of a further year was set to be the opening point for talks with Jorginho, who won the Champions League and Europa League during his time at Chelsea.
READ MORE: Big Weekend: Man City v Arsenal, De Zerbi v Liverpool, Man Utd, Sterling, Der Klassiker
But Spanish publication Nacional that Jorginho ‘has been waiting a long time for a call from Arsenal to renew his contract’ but ‘so far it has not come’.
They claim the Italian has become an ‘indispensable piece’ in Arteta’s side amid Partey’s injury issues but ‘it seems that they have no intention of offering him an extension of his bond’.
Jorginho has now decided he will ‘break’ with Arsenal and ‘would prefer to start a new adventure’ elsewhere with a move to Serie A looking less likely too.
He has ‘offered his signing’ to Barcelona instead with the 32-year-old showing an ‘interest’ in wearing the Catalan club’s colours.
Barcelona are continuing to miss Sergio Busquets in defensive midfield and Nacional adds that Jorginho would offer ‘a solution with experience and at zero cost’.
Mikel Arteta: Man City have raised the bar to levels not seen before in football
Arsenal travel to Man City on Easter Sunday with Arteta’s Premier League leaders one point ahead of Pep Guardiola’s third-placed side.
And Arteta heaped praise on Man City ahead of the clash, he told a press conference on Friday: “We had some clashes in the FA Cup and the Community Shield. They have raised the bar to levels not seen before in football. You have to keep up with that pace and that is what we are trying to do.
“We learned from the level. It’s the level we want to be at. We have been getting closer in the last two-three years. We need to close that gap and try to be better than them.
“They have earned the right for everyone to look at them as an example. It has raised our level and demands [us] to try to be like them and beat them.”
READ MORE: Arsenal embraced Guardiola’s three-word warning as Man City screwed by England but not Portugal
