Jorginho has completed his transfer to Arsenal, where he will join Gabriel Martinelli, whom he has already tried to convince to play for Italy.
Martinelli said it was still his ‘dream’ to play for Brazil but that didn’t stop Jorginho from trying to get the youngster to make the same choice as him and represent the Azzurri instead.
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Jorginho is officially an Arsenal player
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Both Martinelli and Jorginho have dual Brazilian-Italian nationality
Jorginho is the latest Chelsea player to swap West London for North London, following in the footsteps of David Luiz, Petr Cech, Willian and Olivier Giroud in recent years – although the full list of Premier League players to play for both clubs is actually quite long. .
While it might not be the most exciting transfer – just ask talkSPORT host and dedicated Gooner Laura Woods – there seems to be a little extra spice added to the deal. for Jorginho as he finally teams up with a player he’s admired for years.
Martinelli, who recently signed a new contract with the club, holds dual nationality thanks to his father’s Italian roots, but has decided to play for his native Brazil.
Born in Brazil, Jorginho qualified for Italy thanks to a dual nationality acquired by his paternal great-grandfather and chose the European nation.
Martinelli played for Brazil’s Under-23s and their Olympic football team – winning gold at Tokyo 2020 – but his senior duck took a long time, largely due to the world-class strikers in his path.
He finally made his senior debut in March 2022 and now has six caps for his country, including three appearances at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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Martinelli was a successful choice of the Brazilian squad for the World Cup in Qatar – where he made three appearances
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Jorginho won the European Championship title with Italy and is known as ‘Il Professore’ to Azzurri fans
It could have been very different, however, had he followed Jorginho’s advice.
For starters, he wouldn’t have gone to Qatar – because Italy didn’t qualify!
When asked if anyone had tried to convince him to put on an Azzurri shirt, Martinelli told Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte in 2022: “No one spoke to me, only Jorginho told me a times: “I hope to see you in March”, something like that.
“But no-one [official] spoke to me, no.
“As I said before, my dream has always been to play for Brazil. I was just waiting for the opportunity to play for Brazil.
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It’s too late for Jorginho to try and persuade Martinelli to play for Italy now
The pair could share a joke about it in training on Wednesday, with Jorginho moving to the Gunners on deadline day.
The 31-year-old has agreed an 18-month deal with Arsenal for £12million, with the Italy international and European Championship winner ending his five-year spell as a Blue.
He joins the Gunners after Mikel Arteta failed to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton, the boss keen on signing midfield cover for first-choice duo Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka, with fans fearing injury to either player could seriously damage their Premier League. title hopefuls.
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