Jakub Kiwior has been brought in from the cold at Arsenal owing to Gabriel Magalhaes’ season-ending injury.
Prior to Gabriel’s hamstring giving way, Kiwior was a seldom spotted figure for Arsenal, one who only seemed to appear on Carabao Cup nights.
Both Mikel Arteta and Edu were incredibly complimentary about the Poland international when he signed in 2023, a player who was intended to improve squad depth.
And in fairness, Kiwior has done exactly that — Arsenal have a credible alternative to Gabriel and the Brazilian’s absence hasn’t been a crisis in recent weeks.
However, owing to his position throughout the season, Kiwior still wants to leave Arsenal — he recognises that his run of starts will halt once Gabriel returns to fitness.
Jakub Kiwior is ready to leave Arsenal
That being said, Arteta has perhaps just explained why Arsenal need to do everything they can to convince Kiwior to change his mind this summer.
The Arsenal manager was speaking at his press conference ahead of their second leg against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and described Kiwior’s recent efforts as ‘exceptional’.
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Arteta praised the 25-year-old’s ability to step into the team and perform at the highest level at the drop of a hat, one of the reasons the club must be keen to retain his services.
Praising Kiwior, Arteta said: “Well, again, he deserves a lot of credit because he hasn’t played too much throughout many months.
“Suddenly he’s been thrown into the most difficult context, at the highest level, playing against the best opponents, when you haven’t had the physical rhythm or the confidence to do it, and I think he’s been exceptional.”
Mikel Arteta needs to change his rotation policy
It’s a difficult challenge to keep squad players like Kiwior incentivised even though they are not always first choice, but perhaps Arsenal aren’t getting it quite right.
When you compare how often Pep Guardiola rotates his Manchester City team to keep the likes of Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol all happy, it’s night and day.
Arteta needs to trust his extended squad to step in more often if the Gunners are going to avoid refreshing their fringe players every summer.
It’s a bizarre thing to say given how brilliant he’s been for Arteta in recent years, but even Ben White might become frustrated at Arsenal if he’s not starting regularly next season.
Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly appear to be Arteta’s strongest full-backs right now, but the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and White will still need their chances.
A difficult one for Arteta to balance, and area in which he can still improve, at least from the outside looking in.
