Arsenal transfer bid for Napoli midfielder Jorginho rejected

While most of the transfer rumors surrounding Napoli this month have been focused on players coming to Naples, there are always going to be some looking at moves in the other direction. That's the case here, with reports that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made a "formal" offer to Napoli to try to acquire Napoli midfielder Jorginho.

Wenger and Arsenal were, of course, turned down. Jorginho has become a pivotal member of Napoli's squad this season, and not just because he's the center man of their midfield trio -- his calm in possession and ability to accurately pick out a wide variety of passes has been key to getting Maurizio Sarri's tactics working properly. It's no coincidence that as soon as Jorginho started getting regular minutes this season, Napoli's form turned completely around -- he's simply been better than Mirko Valdifiori in every phase of the game, and he's gotten steadily better as the season has worn on.

At 24, Jorginho is still approaching his prime and in a phase of his career that, with regular playing time, he'll make continued improvements to his skill level. Considering where he's at now and what it looks like his ceiling is, it's little surprise that Arsenal would be interested in bringing him in, especially considering their continuous injury crises in their midfield pivot. They've had a dearth of creativity in the deeper parts of midfield this season thanks to injuries and the age-induced decline of Mikel Arteta, and Jorginho would be a very good solution to that problem -- especially since the Gunners have been after Jorginho off and on for almost two years now.

But his importance to Napoli and lack of a quality replacement means that Jorginho will be staying put for now, even if Arsenal are willing to stump up an eye-popping amount of money for him. Perhaps a deal could be worked out in the summer, but even then, Napoli's preference would certainly be to retain Jorginho given his incredible value to the team.