“I never expected him to leave Arsenal so soon until he hold me himself that he will be joining Barcelona by January”- Arsenal star Declan Rice has just revealed his “phenomenal” teammate will be joining Xavi’s Barcelona by January transfer window- Player not Thomas Partey

Declan Rice “surprised” by Arsenal teammate as Barcelona swoop to make signing

Arsenal may allow Jorginho to leave just a year after he joined from Chelsea with Barcelona showing interest in the midfielder – but Declan Rice has sung his praises

Barcelona are weighing up a move for out-of-favour Arsenal midfielder Jorginho – after Declan Rice claimed the Italian had surprised him ‘so much’ in Gunners training.

Both midfielders joined the north London club this year; Jorginho arrived in Mikel Arteta’s squad in January from Chelsea while Rice became Arsenal’s club record signing this summer after ending his long association with West Ham.

Jorginho has played only a bit-part role in Arteta’s side since his transfer, initially as an understudy to Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey in the line-up while he is now behind Rice in the pecking order. The midfielder has started just one Premier League campaign to date this campaign.

Oriol Romeu was signed from Girona but boss Xavi is keen to add another midfield player, with Jorginho among those being monitored. Bayern Munich’s versatile midfielder Joshua Kimmich is also on their radar, along with Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara and Guido Rodriguez of Real Betis.

Jorginho may not have made a notable impact in Arsenal’s games but on the training pitch, he is the player who has leapt out to England international Rice. The former Hammers captain has spoken about how much he has learned from the Brazilian-born star since his switch to the Emirates.

Rice, who was speaking to Joe Cole for Channel 4, has said: “The one who surprised me so much, not surprised because I knew he was such a good player anyway. Playing with him every day in training and seeing how he is because he’s not the biggest is Jorginho.

“His brain, the way it works as a holding midfielder, I’ve just been trying to pick up little things off of him. He’s always in position, he always knows when to pass, always creates time for himself, he’s an outstanding trainer.”

Jorginho has made 24 first-team appearances for Arsenal since his switch from their London rivals, but many of those have come as a substitute. He previously spent seven seasons in Italian football across spells at Verona and Napoli, while he starred as the nation won Euro 2020.