Joel Campbell left Arsenal on a permanent deal this summer, joining Frosinone in Serie A, and his agent has been speaking to the media to explain why.

Campbell spent seven years contracted to Arsenal, though he didn’t make more than a season’s worth of appearances for the Gunners in that time.

There was clearly no room in a very busy Arsenal squad for the 26-year-old, so it made sense for him to move on. However, having spent seasons on loan in France, Spain, Greece and Portugal, it was a bit of a surprise to see Campbell leave for Italy, despite never having played in Serie A before.

Campbell’s agent explained to TuttoMercatoWeb how and why the transfer came about.

“Serie A is a high-level championship and after playing in the other major European championships, he (Campbell) wanted to try the Italian experience,” Joaquim Batica told the website.

“He had played a little last year due to a bad injury, then he took part in the World Cup with Costa Rica. Even if it did not go well as in Brazil, Frosinone called us and in a short time, 2-3 days, we agreed that this was a possibility.

“I went to Italy and in a short time, we closed the deal without hesitation. I spoke to the sports director, then to the president and everything was done. In the end, it may be a good year for him and for Frosinone.”

How is he doing this season?

Campbell is yet to score for his new club, but his agent rightly points out that he’s managed a few assists and is scoring for his country as well.

“Campbell has slowly found his feet and he is playing better too,” Batica said. “For now, he has provided three assists and I hope that the next game will be decisive too. He’s scoring goals with the national team, even if not yet with the club. But I’m not worried. I’m sure that soon he’ll score and at that point, there will be many more.

“He arrived in Europe in 2011, here in Italy there is a different, very tactical football, in which the physique is important. He’s doing well and he’s had a great game in the national team against Chile where he made an assist for his team-mates, so it’s really only the goal in the league.”

The former Gunner has three assists in 10 club games so far this season, but all of them came in the last five matches, so he’s clearly improving. For Costa Rica, Campbell has two goals and two assists in four games since the World Cup.

After a particularly difficult campaign riddled with injuries last season, it’d be great to see the forward back to his best.