Pundit now says £110k-a-week Arsenal player is ‘past his best’ after Tottenham performance

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Pundit Liam Brady has suggested that Arsenal midfielder Jorginho is now ‘past his best’ after his performance against Tottenham Hotspur.

Brady was speaking on The Stand with Eamon Dunphy after the North London derby at the Emirates.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was forced into the one change he would have been desperate not to make on Sunday.

Declan Rice has been sensational since arriving from West Ham United this summer.

He’s started every match in all competitions and scored a fantastic last-minute winner against Manchester United before the international break.

However, when he didn’t emerge from the tunnel at half-time, there would have been plenty of worried fans in the Emirates.

Jorginho was brought on in his place and Tottenham suddenly sensed an opportunity.

After Bukayo Saka put Arsenal ahead from the penalty spot, the Italian was caught napping moments later and Son Heung-min immediately capitalised.

Brady has now suggested that Jorginho is already past his best which will be a concern going forward.

The £110,000-a-week player might be Arteta’s only defensive option in midfield if Rice’s injury rules him out with Thomas Partey already unavailable.

Jorginho now past his best – Brady

Talking about Jorginho coming on Rice at half-time, Brady said: “I think that tipped the scales in Tottenham’s favour definitely.

“Jorginho I think he’s probably past his best, I don’t want to point a finger at him, everybody can make a mistake.

“But he also had [Martin] Odegaard in midfield, [Kai] Havertz in midfield and it was lightweight compared to a midfield with Declan Rice in there to be quite honest.”

If Jorginho is past his best at Arsenal now, Arteta does still have one more option he can call upon.

Mohamed Elneny suffered a serious injury last season but was finally back on the bench at the weekend.

He’s not featured for months and was unlikely to be fit enough to play a full half of football in such an intense clash.

Not that Jorginho looked match sharp either but he may have the opportunity against Brentford tomorrow to prove he’s still up for the task of playing for a title-challenging team when called upon.

James Maddison ended up targeting the Italian whenever he was in possession after stealing the ball from him once.

He dealt with that pressure well for the rest of the match but that one mistake was enough to see the points shared on Sunday.