What can Jakub Kiwior bring to Arsenal after his winter move from Serie A side Spezia?

The 22-year-old defender is the latest player to join Mikel Arteta's revolution at the Emirates Stadium.

It’s proving to be one hell of a season for Arsenal. Sat top of the Premier League standings after a remarkable first half of the campaign, Mikel Arteta’s side look on course to win their first top-flight title since 2003/04.

To strengthen further, the Spanish manager has brought Leandro Trossard in from Brighton and has added young Polish international Jakub Kiwior from Serie A outfit Spezia in a deal that is reportedly set to cost the Gunners around €25million.

But who is Kiwior and what can he bring to Arteta’s squad both for the rest of this campaign and the future?

Standing at 6’2, Kiwior is an imposing central defender who excels in aerial battles and breaking up play. Making 64 interceptions during his time with Spezia across 39 Serie A appearances, no other player for the Italian outfit has made as many during that time despite playing more matches.

His highlight reels that will currently be doing the rounds on Twitter will likely be full of them as a result, a plethora of last ditch attempts to keep the ball out of the net for ‘I Bianchi’. Those clips also showcase the Polish defender’s accomplished reading of the play, an aspect of his game that was good enough to see him start all four of his country’s 2022 World Cup matches in Qatar recently. 

This season for Spezia, the 22-year-old also tops the charts with the most blocks made for his side (18) and most successful clearances recorded (68), the latter figure substantially more than anyone else on his side. His 17 successful tackles also rank high amongst his teammates, with all three of the above tallies showcasing his love of doing the defensive basics as well as possible.

Kiwior additionally offers Arteta plenty of versatility from the off. As well as playing as a centre half for the majority of this season in Serie A, the 22-year-old has previously played as a defensive midfielder for Spezia and also played at left back for former side MSK Zilina in the Slovakian Fortuna Liga. 

Those spells in midfield have helped him to improve his distribution dramatically, something which will be key to his selection under new manager Arteta. His 85.25% pass accuracy in Serie A this campaign is the strongest at Spezia and league-wide puts him ahead of other Italian top-flight defenders such as Atalanta’s Merih Demiral who moved for a similar fee to Atalanta in the offseason. 

Elsewhere, his 5.22 progressive carries on average per 90 in Italy’s top division highlight that Kiwior is comfortable on the ball when in possession. That’s an aspect of his game that will only get better as well under the tutelage he’ll receive with the Gunners backroom staff. 

Understandably Kiwior can still improve in other areas however. So far this season, the defender has been dribbled past 18 times by opposing players in Serie A - more than once per game on average - which is a sizeable amount compared to current Arsenal pair William Saliba (0.11) and Gabriel (0.21) who he’ll be looking to dethrone at the Emirates. 

His overall 51.43% duel success rate will also need substantial work to reach the heights of Saliba and Gabriel who both hold averages over 60% in the Premier League so far this term against tougher opposition. 

But despite those current shortcomings and although the transfer outlay sounds substantial at present for a player that many may not be too familiar with, this acquisition of a player with plenty of high-end potential is one that should work out well for Arsenal and Arteta in the long term.