He can play with Xhaka. I think technically and tactically he's a cut above anyone we have, and he's a lot more mobile than he's given credit for. I don't know what else to say really. He's not the player I'd spend £80 million on, but we don't have £80 million. We have some scraps and a day left of the transfer window. How is it a bad thing to add one of the best passers in Europe to a midfield that literally can't string three passes together? He's not the fastest player, but that's just one aspect out of many to factor in. We have plenty of players who are quick enough on their feet and it counts for nought because they take four touches on the ball, because they turn like ferry boats, or because they can't spot a passing lane.

Have you guys watched Chelsea these past two years? Because he has easily carried that midfield, maybe a little less so after Mount emerged. Lampard getting rid of him and signing fucking Declan Rice instead is just hilarious.

Claudius wrote:
Klaus wrote:

I get the concern, but is that really a bad thing? Do we even want them to be longterm options? To me it feels like the ideal scenario is to bring in people who can get us into Champions League this season, and then we'll have more money and pulling power next summer to get hold of better players.

2 years of Ceballos on loan and 1 year of Jorginho on loan, all the while with Xhaka plodding about feels like tons of hours lost in building a midfield identity. But rather that than overspend on the wrong idiots. 

Why can't we sign the right players though? There has to be more than 2 players who we can build a midfield around.

Klaus wrote:

Lampard getting rid of him and signing fucking Declan Rice instead is just hilarious.

Yeah thats pretty amazing. Can't wait to see Rice kill their build up.

Klaus wrote:

He can play with Xhaka. I think technically and tactically he's a cut above anyone we have, and he's a lot more mobile than he's given credit for. I don't know what else to say really. How is it a bad thing to add one of the best passers in Europe to a midfield that literally can't string three passes together? He's not the fastest player, but that's just one aspect out of many to factor in. We have plenty of players who are quick enough on their feet and it counts for nought because they take four touches on the ball, because they turn like ferry boats, or because they can't spot a passing lane.

Have you guys watched Chelsea these past two years? Because he has easily carried that midfield, maybe a little less so after Mount emerged. Lampard getting rid of him and signing fucking Declan Rice instead is just hilarious.

So he benches ceballos, the guy we just convinced to stay for another year. This is my point. I don't think jorginho is bad for the record, but its a deal that raises more selection and balance question than it answers

Gazza M wrote:

So he benches ceballos, the guy we just convinced to stay for another year.

I think he allows us to play a three-man midfield instead and get a bit more creativity into the team.

The danger, Klaus is Jorginho / Xhaka in midfield makes us counter susceptible. Throw in Luiz or your boy Holding in behind and the Manés of the world will have us for dinner. I’m very concerned about the Jorginho combinations. We raised even more questions than we have today.

There's always danger and drawbacks. We're not working with ideal conditions, and that will be true with or without Jorginho. Ceballos has drawbacks too, and in terms of pace they're probably worse than Jorginho's. I remember people turning their nose up similarly when we were linked to Arteta, and he turned out to be the best central midfield signing we made that decade.

Yeah, if we sign Jorginho I'd say be prepared to see a Xhaka-Jorginho midfield and Ceballos on the bench regularly. With Luiz and Holding at cb we'd have the least athletic and mobile central line in the premiership..

Kel Varnsen wrote:

Yeah, if we sign Jorginho I'd say be prepared to see a Xhaka-Jorginho midfield and Ceballos on the bench regularly. With Luiz and Holding at cb we'd have the least athletic and mobile central line in the premiership..

This is truly the nightmare before Christmas. 
And whenever they tire, we can throw in Mr. 95% pass rate himself El Neny.

Tambourine Man wrote:

Just don't see this happening.

Me neither but Jorginho is better than no-one. At worst he can provide cover.

I don't think Jorginho fits a 3 ATB formation much, but if we signed him I will be confident that we pair Ceballos with him

Elneny starts again meaning he's started 3 out of 4 leagues so far. Yet people are worrying where Jorginho would fit in.

And we get him for a year for virtually no cost, aside from a loan fee presumably. Appreciate that it's not the longterm solution we need, but we have bigger concerns right now.

Agree - think there needs to be pragmatism given limited funds right now. Better to keep the powder dry rather than desperately spend money on someone we're not convinced on.

Also, I think Chelsea will miss Jorginho if they were to let him go. Baffled that they're even considering letting him go.

I do not want Jorginho. He's not what we need at all, and he's a horrible little fucker to boot. We don't need 10,000 short passes in the center circle.

Klaus wrote:

Appreciate that it's not the longterm solution we need, but we have bigger concerns right now.

How is the midfield not our biggest concern?

It is a big concern, that's why we need him. I meant we have more immediate concerns than finding the ideal longterm solution, such as how we're gonna get through this season. I'd much rather have Jorginho than not when he costs us nothing.

If you added Jorginho to today’s team in place of El Neny that would be big improvement. Glad to see Arteta is willing to bench Xhaka.