Mikel Arteta has explained his decision to substitute Jorginho at half-time against Everton, revealing that the midfielder didn’t feel good.

After starting against Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Leicester City, Arsenal January signing Jorginho retained his place in the starting lineup against Everton on Wednesday night.

But after just 45 minutes on the pitch, Mikel Arteta withdrew Jorginho from the action at half-time, explaining in his press conference afterwards that “Jorginho wasn’t feeling good today”.

Speaking in another interview, Arteta added: “[Jorginho] had some sickness, but he wanted to play.”

The 31-year-old had been excellent against City, Villa, and Leicester, arguably performing better than any other player across the three matches.

That wasn’t the case against Everton, with the midfielder seemingly off his game, and perhaps the illness he was suffering with explains that.

Even so, Arsenal were leading 2-0 at half-time, which made it more straightforward for the changed second-half side to see the game out.

Jorginho now has a couple of days to recover before Arsenal’s next fixture against Bournemouth on Saturday, and the games will keep coming thick and fast after that.

The Gunners face Fulham and Crystal Palace on the following two weekends, with the two-legged last-16 tie against Sporting CP in the two midweeks.

Whether Jorginho starts on Saturday or not, there won’t be more than a five-day rest from now until the international break. Having the Italian international healthy and available will be important.