Arsenal signed Jakub Kiwior from Italian side Spezia (Picture: Getty)

Jakub Kiwior’s agent has named three clubs that wanted to sign the Poland defender ahead of Arsenal in January.

The Gunners bolstered Mikel Arteta’s defensive options last month with the £18m signing of Kiwior from Spezia.

The 22-year-old, who featured for Poland at the Qatar World Cup, put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal at the Emirates Stadium.

Kiwior is yet to make his Arsenal debut but was pictured in the stands during the thrilling 3-2 Premier League win over Manchester United.

Arteta has described Kiwior as a player with ‘huge potential and qualities’ and the defender’s agent says three Serie A giants were also interested in securing his signature in January.

‘All the important Italian clubs other than Inter Milan showed interest, including Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus,’ Sasha Baranov told TV Play.

‘However, with Napoli’s current situation, they didn’t need to change their team in January and wanted to continue talks in the summer.

Kiwior featured in all of Poland’s World Cup games in Qatar (Picture: Getty)

‘You all know what happened at Juventus, while Milan also waited, and you know what happens when the Premier League clubs come in.

‘When a side like Arsenal come along, it becomes difficult for a 22-year-old to say no. If it was Juventus or another big club coming in, it may well have been the same situation, but Arsenal are the only side who really pushed the talks forward.

‘We honestly didn’t expect it to all move so fast, we thought he would stay in January and leave Spezia in June.

‘Arsenal came in and the player did not put pressure on his club, he just said that if the move was to happen, then good, otherwise he was happy to wait.’

Kiwior will compete with Arsenal defender Gabriel for a place in Arteta’s side and joins a Gunners team sitting top of the Premier League table.

After making Kiwior their first January signing, Arsenal secured deals for Belgium forward Leandro Trossard and Italy midfielder Jorginho.

The Gunners continue their Premier League title challenge on Saturday with a trip to Goodison Park to face relegation-battlers Everton.

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