ARSENAL star Jorginho has revealed the surprising welcome Granit Xhaka gave him when he joined the club from Chelsea.
The Italian had clashed with the Swiss on a number of occasions during heated battles in London derbies with the Gunners.
AlamyJorginho received a kind welcome to Arsenal from Granit Xhaka[/caption]
GettyXhaka surprised Jorginho with his actions[/caption]
ReutersXhaka and Jorginho had plenty of bust-ups in Arsenal versus Chelsea games[/caption]
Now joining forces at Arsenal, Jorginho has explained how Xhaka put past differences aside and helped him settle in at his new club.
On becoming team-mates, he told beIN Sports: “We had a few fights on the pitch before, but outside the pitch he’s a really nice guy and we have a lot of laughs now.
“I asked him where I could go for dinner, he booked and didn’t let me pay so I was like ‘thank you very much’.”
Jorginho decided to join Arsenal in January after falling out favour at Stamford Bridge following their £300million spending spree.
He had featured for the club 213 times across five seasons, helping them win the Champions League in the 2020/21 season.
The 31-year-old has opened up about wanting to leave Chelsea, telling DAZN how he made his decision.
He also confirmed that Mikel Arteta played a big part in the deal, saying: “He called me and it was all very quick, we made the deal in less than 48 hours.
“I had spoken to Chelsea and I knew I was no longer part of their plans.
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“Sometimes you must accept when you are out of a project, things come to an end.
“I wanted to progress in my career and the Arsenal project suits me, I loved their ideas.”
Jorginho has featured three times for the Gunners so far and will be hoping to get his hands on the Premier League trophy in May.