Graham Potter’s Chelsea have accepted a bid from Arsenal to sign Jorginho, reports suggest. The deal for the Italian playmaker is expected to amount to £12 million.

While Jorginho is 31, with the peak of his career behind him, the move seems relatively risk free due to the inexpensive nature of the fee. It’s difficult to see him unseating Thomas Partey or Granit Xhaka with the form they are in, but he will provide a useful backup option for the Gunners.

Jorginho has made 25 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season, scoring three goals. One of these goals came in the Champions League, against AC Milan, in a game where Jorginho also captained the Blues. Jorginho has also captained Chelsea in their last two Premier League games, against Crystal Palace and Liverpool.

Reliable journo David Ornstein from the Athletic tweeted about the deal earlier:

🚨 Arsenal have agreed deal with Chelsea to sign Jorginho. Worth £12m & personal terms in place on contract to summer 2024 + option to extend by 1yr. Expected at #AFC training ground today to undergo medical + complete #DeadlineDay move @TheAthleticFC #CFC https://t.co/6fK3jlyB8J

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 31, 2023

Arsenal are expected to offer the Italian metronome an 18 month deal, which will carry him through to the summer of 2024. Additionally, the contract is also thought to contain the option to extend Jorignho’s deal by an extra year.

It does not seem like any of the other big 6 like Man United, City, Spurs or perhaps Liverpool were in the frame for the Italian which seems a little surprising given the deficiencies some of those clubs have in midfield.

Chelsea signed Jorginho back in 2018 from Napoli, for a deal amounting to £57 million in total. Since then, he has made 143 appearances for the Blues, scoring nine goals and was on regular spot kick duty for the Stamford Bridge outfit at times. He’s also been a regular in the Italy squad since 2016 – he’s scored five goals across 46 caps.