Declan Rice delivers verdict on exit-bound Arsenal star
Declan Rice has paid tribute to one of his Arsenal teammates following their aggregate win over PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League round of 16.
Mikel Arteta‘s side hammered the Dutch giants 7-1 in the first leg of the tie last week, ensuring they were all but through before Wednesday night’s (12 March) second leg at the Emirates.
That allowed the Gunners boss to rotate his squad for that game, with a number of fresh faces coming into the starting lineup.
One of those who benefitted from that by being given an opportunity was Jorginho, with the midfielder coming into the starting XI after being an unused substitute in the last two games.
Declan Rice loves Jorginho performance vs PSV
In the end, Arsenal would play out a 2-2 draw with PSV in the second leg, securing their place in the quarter finals, where they will play Real Madrid, with a 9-3 victory on aggregate.
Rice clearly enjoyed being able to play alongside Jorginho in the centre of the park again in that game, judging by his social media activity.
| Jorginho vs PSV | Total (as per SofaScore) |
| Minutes Played | 90 |
| Successful Passes | 48/56 |
| Duels Won | 1/3 |
| Shots on Target | 0 |
| Shots off Target | 0 |
| Defensive Actions | 1 |
Taking to his Instagram story the day after the game, the England international posted a picture of himself celebrating with the 33-year-old at full-time.
The Arsenal ace then captioned that image with the line “what a playa this guy is” before tagging Jorginho and including some loving emojis.
With his contract at the Emirates Stadium due to expire in the summer, Jorginho is being tipped to leave Arsenal at the end of this season.
Arsenal have contract decision to make
Football Insider Verdict
Right now it does seem likely Jorginho will leave the club in the summer, given his contract situation and fall down the pecking order.
Arsenal had also identified Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich for a summer move which would help to fill the void left by Jorginho.
However, it is now being reported that Kimmich is close to signing a new contract with the German champions.
That could make it a risk for the Gunners to let Jorginho go, since they will not want to leave themselves short in midfield like they have in attack this season.
With that in mind, Arsenal may still be weighing up their options when it comes to Jorginho, especially when looking at how popular he appears to be with his teammates here.