Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has reacted to losing his teammate Jorginho to Arsenal in the last transfer window.
Arsenal swooped for the Euro 2020 winner in the last hours of the transfer window after failing to sign their main target, Moises Caicedo.
Mikel Arteta is a fan of the Brazilian-Italian and was at Manchester City when the Citizens lost to Chelsea in the race for the former Napoli man.
Jorginho was one of the leaders at Chelsea and his departure leaves a huge void to be filled at Stamford Bridge, admits Silva.
‘It was for a direct competitor, but these are football things, it happens,’ the defender told ESPN Brasil.
‘He wanted to stay in England because he has family here. There are things that we have no control over, but we have to understand the player’s side of things.
‘I know we have a lot of work ahead of us, especially as we have lost one of our great leaders in the dressing room.
‘Jorginho is a guy who spoke a lot and this hole will remain, but we have to move on.
‘We didn’t expect him to leave, but it has happened. We have to make up for his absence in the best possible way.’
Jorginho has been one of the finest midfielders in England since he moved to Chelsea and the Blues have enjoyed his talents over the last few seasons.
Arsenal has added a very experienced player to their group and we expect the midfielder to improve the squad and boost our chances of winning the league.
He is not as young as he was when he moved to England, but he has the experience to make us a much better team.
