Just over 370 minutes – that's how much he played for Arsenal so far in the 24/25 season Jakub Kiwior. The Pole could not count on regular appearances in Mikel Arteta's team, and he appeared in the starting lineup only in English League Cup matches. – There are certainly more reasons for optimism, but this is not yet the number of minutes with which I would like to come to the national team. You can see the great quality in our club. There is healthy competition and that is the most important thing. It's worth working and fighting to gain more minutes, said Kiwior during one of the interviews.
Due to the limited number of minutes, the media are increasingly reporting that Kiwior may change the club during the winter transfer window. The Pole's name comes up mainly in the context of his return to Italy, where Milan, Napoli or Napoli would like to see him in their ranks Juventus.
– Kiwior is strong with his head, left-footed and flexible (he also plays on the defensive side at Arsenal – ed.). Milan Skriniar has already played for Inter Milan, that's for sure. Why choose? If I could, I would take both of them – said Zbigniew Boniek, former president of the Polish Football Association, in the context of Kiwior's potential winter transfer to Juventus.
On Wednesday, Kiwior was included in Arsenal's starting lineup for the match against Manchester United in the Premier League hit. Arsenal won 2-0 with goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba. Kiwior took advantage of the fact that Gabriel Magalhaes, Benjamin White and Ricardo Calafiori were injured, so Kiwior created a duo of defenders with Saliba. “Kiwior has reasons to be happy. He played decently and contributed to winning the classic league“- we wrote on Sport.pl.
How did the British media rate Kiwior for this match?
Kiwior praised by the British media after the hit. “He did great”
Kiwior usually received decent marks from English journalists, but lower than Declan Rice, David Raya or the above-mentioned Saliba with Timber. “The out-of-favor Pole was never able to replace Gabriel, so the only thing he could do was not to be a threat from the back. He did well in this role. He came up with some great moves,” writes goal.com. “He did a great job replacing Gabriel. Rasmus Hojlund checked him several times, but Kiwior played solid,” adds nbcsports.com.
“His performance was very sloppy, but Kiwior is rarely neat on the pitch. Fortunately, Kiwior was effective. The Pole coped with attempts to draw him into duels with fast players. players on the sides of the pitch,” we read on paininthearsenal.com. “Did Arsenal miss Gabriel? Yes. Will he return to the lineup when he is healthy? Yes. But the despair over Kiwior taking his place was exaggerated. The Pole did not make any mistakes,” says football.london.
All media emphasize that Kiwior was able to replace the injured Gabriel. “He played very well as the Brazilian's understudy. He won most of the duels and always tried to play long balls over the top, which was a relative success,” notes givemesport.com. “It cannot be denied that Kiwior is a reserve option at Arsenal, but he took care of order at the back. He will probably face more difficult tests in the coming weeks if he gets the chance again,” comments the Daily Express. “The Pole showed why Arsenal value him so highly,” sums up justarsenal.com.
Arsenal will play six more games this year – four in the Premier League (Fulham 08/12, Everton 14/12, Crystal Palace 21/12, Ipswich 27/12) and one each in the Champions League (AS Monaco 11/12) and the English League Cup (Crystal Palace 18/12).