Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice says he is taking advice from teammate Jorginho about how to improve his game.
The £105m summer signing has been fulsome in his praise of the former Chelsea player, who has demonstrated his ability on a daily basis in training:
“The one that surprised me so much, well not surprise me as I knew he was such a good player anyway, but playing with him every day in training and seeing how he is because he’s not the biggest is Jorginho.”
“He is like, his brain, the way it works as a holding midfielder – I have just been trying to pick up little things off of him because he is always in position, he always knows when to pass, always creates time for himself – he is an outstanding trainer and I’ve been trying to take bits from his game as well.”
Ironically, Rice has effectively taken Jorginho’s position in the starting lineup since his arrival from West Ham at the beginning of the season.
The Italian international has played 18 minutes in total across Arsenal’s first 5 games in all competitions. He was an unused substitute on the opening day of the campaign against Nottingham Forest, and he has had 3 brief cameos in subsequent league fixtures.
Partey’s injury could help Jorginho get more minutes
With Thomas Partey out until the next international break with a muscular injury, there will be room for Jorginho to play more minutes in upcoming matches.
It will be interesting to see whether the 31-year-old plays alongside Rice or whether he deputises for him, such as when the Gunners take on Brentford in the Carabao Cup later this month.
There is speculation that Jorginho could leave Arsenal
After being dropped from the Italy squad for the September internationals, there has already been reports that the midfielder could depart the Emirates.
Jorginho’s agent refuted claims that he could join Fenerbahce but there is a decent chance that he will leave in January if his playing situation doesn’t improve.
