Three top Serie A clubs tried to sign Jakub Kiwior before Arsenal did a deal for the centre-back, according to a report.

Gianluca Di Marzio told Polish outlet Meczyki that a number of Serie A clubs were chasing Jakub Kiwior before Arsenal, but they hesitated in the hope that they could do a deal in the summer.

“It was inevitable,” Di Marzio said of the transfer (translation via Dominik Watorski). “If someone plays as well as he does, he’ll eventually leave.

“It’s a shame because the first teams to try to get him were Milan, Juve, and Napoli. However, they all preferred to do the transfer in June, when they’d have had more liquidity.

“Arsenal were able to act concretely and get ahead of the competition by putting €25 million on the table in January and bringing him in.

“Respect to them. That’s the kind of offer you don’t turn down. Good luck to the lad.”

Previous reports suggest there was also plenty of competing interest from abroad, with Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Brentford, and Leicester City all making offers.

In the end, Arsenal completed the signing for a reported fee of €23m (£20.3m), plus €2m (£1.8m) in add-ons.

On top of the transfer fee, Spezia will also profit if Kiwior is sold before this contract is renewed, according to club director Eduardo Macia.

“We do have a percentage of the future sell-on fee for Kiwior, but it is reserved information, so I cannot say how much,” Macia said (via Football-Italia).

Whilst Macia may not have been able to reveal the exact percentage, Matteo Moretto had already reported the previous day that there was a 5% clause in the deal.

After his first squad appearance away to Manchester City in the FA Cup, we now await the centre-back’s debut for his new club.