Why I think letting Kiwior go would be a mistake
Arsenal like every the club in the summer transfer window are trying to decide who they should and should and shouldn’t be selling this summer and of course lots of names and rumours are flying around keeping us all on our toes, but today a new name has come up. That’s 24-year-old Polish defender Jakub Kiwior, a name that I wasn’t particularly expecting to hear this off season, but after reports from ‘Mail Sport’ have suggested that Arsenal would be open to selling the young defender this summer, I seems more likely than I’d once thought.
Arsenal have been reported to be actively trying to get the signature of Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna Fc and with the deal looking imminent, apparently Arsenal is now open to selling Kiwior if a good enough offer was to come in. There are also reports coming out of Italy that Inter Milan and Napoli could both be interested in the young defender’s signature or even a loan move.
Personally, I think it would be a big mistake to let Kiwior go. He’s still very young but has a lot of promise. I understand that bringing in another defender would mean we need to clear some of the deadwood, but Kiwior isn’t what I’d consider as deadwood. Last season when we were in trouble at left back when both Zinchenko and Tomiyasu picked up injuries and were forced to sit on the sidelines for weeks, Kiwior stepped up and brought a lot to the team when he needed to.
Before both injuries Kiwior had hardly got a chance and wasn’t expected to come in and be ready and match fit, but he did. I think he brings something different to our defensive set up and although were bringing in another defender, I think I’d rather see the back of Zinchenko then I would Kiwior, only because I think he’s got a lot more potential, and Zinchenko hasn’t looked at his best for a while now.
With Tomiyasu signing a new contract he’s set to stay and Timber being able to play along the entire backline, it gives us multiple options and Kiwior might not get the game time he would want and then I’d understand why he would want to leave, for his own benefit, but it comes down to the club’s decision, I think we would regret selling him. He never complains, he puts 100% on the pitch and he only seems to get better and better the more he plays.
Of course, it will be up to Arteta and if a good enough offer comes in, it will be hard to say no, but I think we could regret letting him go after seeing his potential last season.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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If Arsenal sign Calafiori, as it looks increasingly likely, Kiwior would be surplus to requirements at the club. Keeping him would make no sense.
Have you thought of the likelihood that he may the one pushing for an exit as a result of limited playing time?
In my opinion Deadwood means poor underperforming players that are not attractive to other big serious clubs. Kiwor seems to be attracting potential suitors.
I would say someone like Tavares etc can be labelled as deadwood.
Kiwor can be labelled as just surplus to requirements.
Arteta is ruthless and he has surely made a few mistakes in several transfer windows. I just hope Arsenal can sell Kiwior as soon as possible
As for Calafiori, he doesn’t seem better than Kiwior, but hopefully I’m wrong
Arsenal may also sell Magalhaes instead of Kiwior
What made you say that Arsenal may sell GM instead of Kiwior?
Why would Arsenal sell a warrior like Magalhaes! He is exactly what we’ve missed for many years that have kept us away from the title. Last season typified the strength fight and physicality that is needed to win any of the biggest competitions and Gabriel lead the team in that department! My thought are it would be Crazy to even consider selling him!
If its not broken why fix it. Our defence aprt from left back looks very good and is the main reason we have performed so well the past 2 seasons. Why do we want to disturb what has been our best department instead of fixing the problem areas that anyone can see.
The time to sell a player is before he becomes “deadwood”.As to the merits of Kwior v Calafiori, the Italian has more strings to his bow and is entirely comfortable at LB, whilst Kwior is very limited in that position.
Agree with this. People forget, kiwior is basically our 4th choice at lb with zinchenko, tomiyasu and timber all more likely to start that position when fit – whatever you think of them, they’re all more comfortable in that role than kiwior. Last season, he was probably our third choice CB, or at least the one we’d turn to as cover for Gabriel – he just never had the chance to play that position. As you say, the longer he’s here playing lb and not getting a chance at CB, the more he becomes like ‘deadwood’
From what I’ve seen, agree that calafiori has more about him and would be a better option at lb.
Kiwior is not good enough for Arsenal. For me he is a mistake waiting to happen. In his defence, he isn’t and never will be a LB.
Kiwior is not deadwood
personally I wouldn’t sell, i think he has done just fine, not outstanding but certainly can continue to do a job both at centre back and left back
however it seems stories of Kiwior being unsettled and linked with a move back to Italy soon after he arrived may have something to them, it feels like he is on the way out
if so i think we are bit light in terms of numbers – assuming White / Saliba / Gabriel / Calafiori are the first choice back four that would leave on Tomy, Timber and Zinc as back-up if Kiwior goes
Zinc is more limited both positionally and defensively than Kiwior, and if up to me i would prefer to see Zinc go
if Kiwior does go we may need to add another to replace him, which feels a bit wrong given plenty of work needed elsewhere in the squad, particularly midfield, with nothing done yet
I can’t say I’ve seen anything from Kiwior to say he has potential to become better. He’s a decent player but a bit average and in my opinion has had chances to shine and make himself unstoppable but take the chances otherwise the comments on here would have been along the line of “No way we should sell Kiwior”. The comments on JA are mixed, some say keep some say sell – probably because he is a bit of an average player.
I think we need to grow to a situation where you don’t downgrade so much when you rest a starting player. Would you feel 100% safe when resting Gabriel and you’d replace him with Kiwior? I don’t tbh. He is just not on the same level. Getting Tomi or Timber in for White when White needs a rest, I still feel pretty comfortable. I think we need that for the whole back line. Calafiori is just better than Kiwior so I would feel way more comfortable replacing Gabriel with Calafiori when resting Gabriel. He is also capable of filling in at leftback, something Kiwior showed us he clearly can not
I would be comfortable with kiwior starting at CB to cover for Gabriel personally – I think people are influenced by his mediocre performances at lb into thinking he’s not a good CB. From what I’ve seen, he’s a competent, modern Cb who fits in well with the way we play and potentially *could* challenge Gabriel if given the opportunity, he’s just not got the pace or understanding of the fullback role to be a proper lb – but he was our fourth choice for that position, so I don’t see why we’d complain about that. I’m not sure we have any other positions where we’d expect or fourth choice to not be a significant drop off.
I don’t why some fans cling on to an ok player like Kiwior, rating him above Gabriel,who even with his occasional brain snaps is a tried and tested warrior.
The thing that makes me wonder if we should keep Kiwior is injury concerns. It wouldn’t be surprising to see any of Zinny Tomiyasu Calafiori Timber pull up with an injury. I say that because of injuries they’ve had in the past. Kiwior looks reliable on that front along with Saliba White Gabriel
good call, some players seem to never get injured (Rice, Gabriel, Havertz) and some seem to constantly have some injury worry (Partey, Zinc, Tomy)
Kiwior so far seems to be in former, reliable availability is increasingly important and Kiwior seems to have that
another reason to keep him
all this constant talk of his departure soon after he arrived, may be it is the player himself that actually never settled and ants to move as right now seems perfect for the Arsenal project
Kiwior is still an Arsenal player and i don’t think he’s up for sale. He has the skillset to play a vital part in our team.