Jorginho to leave Arsenal before January deadline?! Flamengo pushing to secure deal for Italy midfielder, as technical director holding meeting with Gunners star's agent

According to reporter Vene Casagrande, Flamengo technical director Jose Boto is "doing his utmost" to land Jorginho for the Brazilian side. That has so far included multiple video calls with both the player and his representatives.

At the age of 33, Jorginho is not a regular starter for Arsenal. His contract is also up at the end of the season. But he continues to have an important role in terms of squad rotation and typically captains the side when Mikel Arteta makes multiple changes to keep his preferred XI fresh. Rumour has it the Gunners would like him to sign a new deal and stay.

Although an Italy international since 2016, Jorginho was born and raised until the age of 15 in Brazil. He left South America for Europe at the age of 15 because of an agent, trialling at Hellas Verona and and later obtained Italian citizenship. He almost quit football to return to Brazil shortly afterwards when he discovered the same agent had been stealing money from him, leaving the youngster with just €20 each week to live on.

Brazilian football is currently in its off-season, so the transfer window for clubs to recruit new players ahead of the 2025 campaign is actually open until the end of February. It means there is no time pressure for Flamengo to sign Jorginho, but Arsenal might insist on anything being concluded before the mid-season European deadline to allow them to bring in at least a stop-gap replacement for the purpose of depth and cover. Flamengo aren't the only interested Brazilian club, with Palmeiras also rumoured to have held talks this month.