‘We have made it difficult’… Mikel Arteta admits he has given £20m Arsenal player a really tricky situation

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has praised Jakub Kiwior for his improvement this season.

We have become very used to seeing Arteta using full backs in midfield.

Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been utilised in similar roles, moving into midfield to aid Arsenal’s build-up play.

Zinchenko’s recent absence has forced Arteta to use Jakub Kiwior in that role.

The Pole has been impressive, recording a goal and two assists in his last five appearances.

Mikel Arteta praises Jakub Kiwior

Signed from Spezia for £20million in January 2023, Kiwior had an up-and-down first year at the club.

There were even rumours surrounding a return to Italy ahead of the January transfer window.

That didn’t happen and we would argue there is little chance of it happening this summer.

Kiwior has shown his value as a left back whilst also being able to play at centre back and even in holding midfield if needed.

That kind of versatility will be very valuable to Arteta and he has now moved to praise Kiwior.

Speaking to Football London, Arteta suggests that Kiwior has ‘been really good’ of late having built up confidence and even more physicality.

Arteta believes that he has created a difficult situation for Kiwior but not playing him very often and then throwing him into an unfamiliar position.

Kiwior has adapted and played well though, earning Arteta’s praise this afternoon.

“We made a decision to bring him in earlier, because we believed that whichever player we were going to sign to have the role that he had to have was going to need time, and that was the case,” said Arteta. “And we have made it difficult for him for two reasons: One, because he hasn’t played that many minutes, and the second one because we asked him to play in a position that he’s never played in before. So it’s like putting William Saliba as a full-back, and saying, “There we go, tomorrow go and perform and do what we have to do!” And I think he’s adapted really well, I think he’s playing better and better, you can tell that he’s earning confidence and physically he’s better, he understands the role much better and he’s been really good.”

“Yeah. It’s all about that. In the end you can’t ask players to do things that they don’t feel especially capable of doing in a natural way, so we have to tweak a few things to make sure that the players play to their strengths,” he added.

Kiwior looks set to play a key role during the run-in with Arsenal chasing a Premier League title.

Who knows, maybe Kiwior can now become the first-choice left back for Arsenal moving forward as he continues to develop in North London.