Chelsea's cheeky Arsenal dig in Jorginho transfer announcement

Cameron Smith

• 31 Jan 2023 20:45 GMT
• 3 min read

Jorginho has officially completed his €15 million transfer from Chelsea to Arsenal, just hours before the January window shuts.

The 30-year-old had just six months left on his deal at Stamford Bridge and wasn't expected to sign a contract extension at the West London club.

It was believed that Jorginho would become a free agent this summer, with a return back to Italy deemed the most likely scenario. However, Arsenal's failed pursuit of Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo led them to the Chelsea star and a deal was quickly agreed.

READ: How Chelsea are BLOCKING Bakayoko's exit

But, after losing one of their key players to their London rivals and the current league leaders, the Blues couldn't resist delivering a cheeky dig in their official announcement of the transfer.

What did Chelsea say?

On their club website, the Blues announced the departure of the former Napoli man, and thanked him for his time at Stamford Bridge.

In the second paragraph, however, they made a not so subtle dig towards Jorginho's new club.

READ: Jorginho completes surprise Arsenal transfer from Chelsea

The statement read: "Many of Jorginho’s best performances came in European competition. He starred in Baku at the end of his first season when we thumped Arsenal 4-1, and the midfielder played a pivotal role en route to Champions League glory in 2021, starting all but one of our knockout games as we conceded just twice and shut out Manchester City in the Porto final."

The Blues did, in fact, "thump" Arsenal in the 2018/19 Europa League final under Maurizio Sarri, with goals from Olivier Giroud, Pedro and Eden Hazard (2) sealing Jorginho's third ever trophy in senior club football.

Jorginho has signed an initial 18-month deal at the Emirates Stadium, keeping him at the club until 2024 at the very least. He is expected to provide cover for Thomas Partey at the base of Mikel Arteta's midfield.

The move leaves Chelsea slightly short in numbers in the middle of the park, with N'Golo Kante still sidelined through injury.