Arsenal scare off Porto with Jakub Kiwior transfer fee demand | Football

Arsenal ‘scared off’ Porto by demanding a €30 million (£26m) transfer fee for Jakub Kiwior, according to reports in Portugal.

Mikel Arteta’s side signed the Poland international from Spezia in a deal worth £20m in January 2023.

Kiwior started just 10 games in the Premier League last season and has struggled to secure regular playing time ahead of Arsenal’s solid centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.

The 25-year-old has been linked with a move away this summer although Arteta is keen to keep the defender at Arsenal.

A Bola reports that Porto made an approach to sign Kiwior earlier this summer but the Portuguese ‘lost all hope’ when Arsenal responded by asking for a €30m (£26m) fee.

Porto did not follow up their interest in Kiwior and instead opted to sign Jan Bednarek in a €7.5m (£6.5m) deal from Southampton.

Speaking in May, Arteta praised Kiwior for his performances while Gabriel was sidelined due to a hamstring injury.

‘He deserves a lot of credit because he hasn’t played too much throughout many months, and 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,’ Arteta said.

Kiwior is in line to start alongside Saliba for Arsenal’s Premier League opener against Manchester United on August 17 as Gabriel is yet to feature during the club’s pre-season campaign this summer.

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