Arsenal: Milan plan to ‘revive interest’ in £22m defender as Arteta eyes Ajax wonderkid | OneFootball

Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior has been linked with a move back to Italy.

Arsenal are bracing themselves for bids from Italian clubs for Jakub Kiwior in the summer transfer window, according to a report.

Kiwior has made 26 appearances for the Premier League club since joining them from Spezia for around £22million last January.

He has been used pretty sparingly by Mikel Arteta but Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s injury concerns have given him the opportunity to impress in left-back.

The Polish international is naturally a central defender but as we have seen from Pep Guardiola, and even Arteta with Benjamin White on the opposite flank, centre-backs playing in full-back is becoming a trend.

Kiwior’s performances have not been fantastic by any stretch of the imagination but he is a player with a lot of potential.

He arguably put in his best performance for Arsenal in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool, coming off the bench for Zinchenko at half-time.

The January transfer window was full of speculation surrounding Kiwior’s future in north London, with several clubs in Serie A reportedly keen.

AC Milan were one of the clubs being strongly linked with a winter move for Kiwior and it looks like their interest remains.

According to Standard Sport, Italian clubs – ‘including Milan’ – will make the 19-cap Polish defender a summer ‘target’ after failing to land him last month.

It is noted that Arsenal ‘made it clear’ in January that Kiwior was not for sale or available on loan with Arteta reluctant to leave himself short at the back in the second half of the season.

Milan are among the clubs willing to ‘revive their interest’ to see if the Gunners are ‘tempted’ to sell or loan the player out at the end of the season.

The Gunners may be open to offloading Kiwior with Arteta interested in signing Ajax wonderkid Jorrel Hato.

Hato has been on Arteta’s radar for a while and Arsenal ‘are themselves looking at possible defensive reinforcements’.

The 17-year-old can also operate as a left-back and central defender so would be a perfect replacement for Kiwior, should he be moved on.

Despite his age, Hato has played every single minute for Ajax this season, even captaining the side in their Europa League win over AEK Athens in December.

The teenage defender has previously expressed his desire to follow in Jurrien Timber’s footsteps by moving to the Premier League.

“Unfortunately he was seriously injured in his first Premier League game for Arsenal, but he is still young and has a bright future ahead of him,” Hato said.

“In any case, the move to Arsenal was a wonderful one for him. It is also my dream to one day make such a transfer, but I realise that I still have a very long way to go.”

Arsenal Jakub Kiwior