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Nigel Winterburn seriously impressed with £20m Arsenal man after Newcastle performance
Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn has showered praise on defender Jakub Kiwior after his performance against Newcastle United.
Winterburn was on and reviewing the Gunners’ win at St. James Park.
It was a game that could have completely derailed Arsenal’s title hopes.
They went into the match four points behind Manchester City having played the same number of games.
Martin Odegaard and a Fabian Schar own goal ended up making the difference for the visitors.
They were indebted to Aaron Ramsdale and the woodwork at times, but Arsenal came away from Newcastle with a well-earned clean sheet.
Mikel Arteta had several big calls to make in his starting line-up going into yesterday’s game.
Leandro Trossard was the only player to drop out of the side, with Gabriel Martinelli taking his place.
However, Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior got the nod over Thomas Partey and Rob Holding, and both players repaid the faith shown in them by Mikel Arteta.
Winterburn was impressed with Kiwior in particular and how quickly he’s settled into Arsenal’s starting line-up.
The defender could now be rewarded with a run of games right up to the end of the season.
Winterburn full of praise for Arsenal youngster Kiwior
Asked about the Polish international on TalkSPORT, : “He’s a young, young man who’s just come into the team. He’s learning the game as well.
“I think Mikel Arteta had a huge decision to make because it looked to me as if the [Rob] Holding and Gabriel [Magalhaes] centre-half partnership had broken down a little bit.
“It just seemed that it was wobbling a bit, he had to make that decision and brought [Jakub] Kiwior in.
“So far, he’s looked very, very good but it’s very early in his career.
“But to come in when a team have started to struggle a little bit in terms of keeping that momentum going, that’s great credit to him, but also great credit to the team as well.”
Mikel Arteta has already spoken about how good Kiwior could be for Arsenal in the years to come.
Once William Saliba is fit again, Kiwior will drop back to the bench, but he has at least leapfrogged Rob Holding in the pecking order.
Arsenal appear to have a backup centre-back they can rely on going forward.
It will be interesting to see if this changes Mikel Arteta’s transfer plans for the summer.
The Gunners have been linked with centre-backs but may choose instead to focus on other positions thanks to the Pole’s emergence.
Winterburn won’t be the only person watching Arsenal closely who has liked what they’ve seen from Kiwior so far.