Director announces Arsenal transfer: ‘Great player’ to join soon

Flamengo director Jose Boto has announced that Arsenal midfielder Jorginho will ideally join ahead of the Club World Cup.

The Italy international has been the subject of intense links to Brazil, the country of his birth, for months. In January, Flamengo tried to get Arsenal to sell Jorginho, but the Gunners did not want to lose the midfielder mid-season.

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The Brazilian giants instead set about working on a free transfer for the summer as the 33-year-old’s contract is set to expire. It has been a saga that has now dragged on for several months, with Jorginho even spotted in Rio de Janeiro during the last international break.

The transfer has still not been officially confirmed, although it has been reported for the past few weeks that a deal is pretty much wrapped up. Jorginho had been offered a new contract by Arsenal, but he is looking for a new challenge after seeing his importance diminish.

There were some reports that his family had concerns about moving to Brazil, but it appears as though those fears have been laid to rest, and it seems to be only a matter of time before he can be considered a Flamengo player.

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Flamengo director on Jorginho

Flamengo’s technical director Jose Boto has now addressed the speculation surrounding Jorginho, and while he refused to outright confirm the move as a done deal, he did express his hope that the midfielder will join in time for the Club World Cup.

“If Jorginho comes, it will be after the season in Europe ends. I hope it will be in time for the World Cup,” Boto said. Meanwhile, Flamengo head coach Filipe Luis described Jorginho as a ‘great player’ and praised his club for targeting someone of that calibre.

“I don’t know about this news,” Luis initially said. “I speak to Boto every day and he didn’t tell me about it. Jorginho is an Arsenal player. I can’t talk about players who aren’t from Flamengo.

“He’s a great player; I have a lot of respect for him. It’s good that Flamengo is looking at this type of high-level player to be able to improve our squad even more. But at the moment, I don’t know.”

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