FC Porto will hold meetings over the signing of Jakub Kiwior in the coming hours, with their pursuit not reliant on the potential departure of Rodrigo Mora to Al-Ittihad.
Portuguese outlet A Bola report in their print edition on Sunday, August 24th that it was no surprise Jakub Kiwior didn’t come on for Arsenal against Leeds United on Saturday, as FC Porto are set to hold meetings over his transfer in the coming hours.
Porto are also currently working on a possible major sale, with Al-Ittihad rumoured to be interested in signing Rodrigo Mora for as much as €70m.
But reports on the chances of that deal going ahead are mixed. Ben Jacobs reports that Al-Ittihad are confident and club-to-club talks are advanced, but Santi Aouna suggests not everyone at the Saudi Pro League club is convinced the €70m signing is good value.
Yet A Bola report that whether or not Porto sign Kiwior is unrelated to the Mora sale. Talks with Arsenal over Kiwior predate Al-Ittihad’s move for Mora, so they weren’t bidding on the basis of the sale going ahead first.
But if Mora does depart for a major fee, Porto would have more cash to work with in Kiwior’s case.
Either way, A Bola claim there’s strong anticipation surrounding the completion of the Kiwior deal, with the player interested in the move. Joining Porto would allow him to reunite with international teammate Jan Bednarek.
At this stage, it’s unclear exactly what form the transfer would take. Arsenal would ideally prefer a permanent sale, but perhaps a loan with an obligation to buy could also suit both parties.
Kiwior returned to the Arsenal first-team squad on Saturday, having sat out against Manchester United. But Mikel Arteta opted to bring on Cristhian Mosquera and Myles Lewis-Skelly when he made defensive changes, leaving the Poland international on the bench.