Arsenal about to sacrifice in-form star, as Mikel Arteta shows his ruthlessness: report

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the team's victory in the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC at Emirates Stadium on February 04, 2024 in London, England.
(Image credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is prepared to move on a star who's been excellent in recent times – just for an upgrade in that position.

The Spaniard certainly isn't afraid of these big calls, showing a willingness to move on players who he perceives are holding back the side tactically, regardless of how well they've been playing. Just this season, Arsenal have replaced fan-favourite Aaron Ramsdale in goal with David Raya, despite the England international having done little wrong prior to being dropped.

Kieran Tierney, too, has been sent on loan to Real Sociedad due to the Scot not being able to invert to the level that Arteta demands – and now, the Basque boss might be about to make a similar decision to move on another star.

David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale in training for Arsenal.

David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale are examples of Arteta's willingness to drop favourites in search of marginal gains (Image credit: Alamy)

According to HITC, Jakub Kiwior could depart this summer, just a year and a half after arriving from Spezia in Serie A – with Ajax wonderkid Jorrel Hato wanted.

Kiwior is a left-sided centre-back by trade but with Brazilian Gabriel a near ever-present in that position and Arsenal's main options at left-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber all unavailable of late, the Pole has played there.

Kiwior, like Tierney, however has struggled to invert. In the 6-0 thrashing of West Ham United at the weekend, Ben White on the other side was tasked with forming the box midfield, with Kiwior forming the back three. 

Jakub Kiwior and Kieran Tierney

Kieran Tierney has been sent on loan, due to his lack of suitability to play Arteta's system (Image credit: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

Kiwior was linked with a move back to Serie A in the January transfer window, given his lack of game-time up until that point this season.

The 23-year-old is valued by Transfermarkt at €25 million.

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Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.