ARSENAL beat three top Italian clubs to the signature of Poland defender Jakub Kiwior.
The Gunners bought the 22-year-old for £21million from Serie A side Spezia.
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Kiwior also impressed while playing at the Qatar World Cup last November-December.
And the defender’s fine performances saw a number of top clubs register an interest in Kiwior.
Italian giants Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus were all keen, the player’s agent has revealed.
Sasha Baranov told TV Play: “All the important Italian clubs other than Inter Milan showed interest, including Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus.
“However, with Napoli’s current situation, they didn’t need to change their team in January and wanted to continue talks in the summer.
“You all know what happened at Juventus, while Milan also waited, and you know what happens when the Premier League clubs come in.
“When a side like Arsenal come along, it becomes difficult for a 22-year-old to say no.
“If it was Juventus or another big club coming in, it may well have been the same situation, but Arsenal are the only side who really pushed the talks forward.
“We honestly didn’t expect it to all move so fast, we thought he would stay in January and leave Spezia in June.
“Arsenal came in and the player did not put pressure on his club, he just said that if the move was to happen, then good, otherwise he was happy to wait.”
Kiwior is yet to make an appearance for Arsenal but was on the bench for the 1-0 FA Cup loss to Manchester City.
