Atalanta are the latest club to join the race for Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior, but the Gunners don’t want to sell in the January transfer window.
Adrian Heluszka reports for Polish outlet Przeglad Sportowy that Jakub Kiwior continues to draw interest from Serie A clubs, with Atalanta joining Juventus and AC Milan in the race over the last few days. There are also clubs outside Italy with an interest.
Heluszka claims Atalanta were seriously considering a move for Kiwior, but it’s already clear that a January transfer won’t happen.
Arsenal are reportedly not open to selling, even if Kiwior isn’t a regular starter for Mikel Arteta at the moment.
One club that appear to have left the race is Inter Milan. Inter have long been linked with a move for the centre-back, but Heluszka reports that they’ve decided to focus elsewhere now.
Transfer talk around Kiwior has been intensifying throughout the season so far, with Charles Watts reporting in November that if a decent offer arrived in January, he believed Arsenal would consider it.
But things have changed a lot since then, with injuries to the likes of Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Arsenal’s defensive options aren’t reliably available, and Kiwior may well be needed quite often before the season ends.
So far, Kiwior has made 15 appearances for Arsenal this season, including seven starts. The centre-back has played the full 90 minutes in the Gunners’ last two Champions League matches, helping the team to clean sheets on both occasions.
It’s been a bit longer since he’s been involved in the Premier League, with Arsenal on a run of seven games without giving him a minute on the pitch.
Any restlessness from Kiwior’s side would be understandable, but it seems a January move is off the table.