The absences of William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori looked to give one Arsenal benchwarmer the chance to stake his claim.
But as he returned to the sidelines for Saturday’s trip to Newcastle United and the midweek Champions League loss at Inter Milan, one wonders if Jakub Kiwior’s costly blunder at the Vitality Stadium was one mistake too many as far as Mikel Arteta is concerned.
Arsenal called upon Kiwior after William Saliba grabbed his rubber duck, his shampoo and headed for a rubber bath as The Gunners’ title ambitions took a major hit at Bournemouth.
But if Saliba’s red card aided Bournemouth in a famous 2-0 win, it was Kiwior who rubber-stamped the three points for Andoni Iraola’s side.
An ill-judged and poorly-weighted back pass intercepted by Evanilson, forcing a penalty out of goalkeeper David Raya. Justin Kluivert slammed the resulting spot-kick home.
And while Kiwior would produce a pair of assists as an Ethan Nwaneri-inspired Arsenal cruised past Preston in the EFL Cup, the Poland international is doing little to dispel the notion that he cannot be relied upon against better quality opposition.
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Jakub Kiwior urged to leave Arsenal for Serie A leaders Napoli
Arsenal paid £20 million to sign Kiwior from Spezia nearly two years ago.
And, with the Premier League still a little hot for the 24-year-old to handle, former Spezia president Stefano Chisoli is urging Serie A challengers Napoli to put an end to Kiwior’s North London misery.
“Kiwior is a great player,” Chisoli tells Radio Kiss Kiss. “He has great technique and a great physique.”
Napoli, still a point clear of Inter Milan in the Scudetto race despite losing 3-0 at home to Atalanta last time out, have deployed a back-four system this season.
And whoever said you cannot teach old dogs new tricks? Antonio Conte may be a more stubborn character than most but even he is willing to move with the times if required, shifting away from the three-at-the-back set-up which underpinned much of his success at Juventus and Chelsea.
And Chisoli feels that Conte’s Napoli would benefit from the arrival of the versatile Kiwior given his ability to play as a centre-half and a left-back in a defensive quartet.
“Kiwior would be perfect in a back four,” Chisoli adds of a player who was also fielded in a number six role at times by now-Juventus boss Thiago Motta. “He was born a midfielder and has an important tactical awareness.
“Napoli can play a leading role [in the title race]. The team is strong, the coach is good and they have no European commitments. Europe wears you down, many teams lose points in the league for this reason.
“There is another player who is doing very well who I also had at Spezia and who would be a good fit for Conte. That is Ardian Ismajli, who is now at Empoli.”
Arsenal eye Palmieras’ Vitor Reis amid defensive targets
TBR reported recently that Kiwior did have the chance to move back to Italy over the summer. Juventus, Inter Milan and Bologna were all like the Arsenal utility man. Interestingly, had he joined Bologna, Kiwior would have essentially replaced Riccardo Calafiori.
Arsenal are likely to be open to offers again in the winter, with The Gunners already drawing up a list of defensive targets of their own.
The Gunners are watching Valencia’s Cristhian Mosquera and Nantes’ Nathan Zeze. Girona flyer Miguel Gutierrez is another option, should Arteta look to add a natural left-sided full-back to his ranks.
Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Reis is another name that is likely to appear regularly in the gossip columns. Particularly as Vitor Reis’ agent claims a departure from Palmeiras is ‘inevitable’ in the near future.