Italian midfielder Jorginho has offered a detailed account of his decision to leave Arsenal in the summer of 2025, revealing that a loss of joy for the game and insufficient playing time under Mikel Arteta were the driving forces behind his departure.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Times, the former Chelsea man was candid about the circumstances that led him to join Brazilian club Flamengo on a free transfer following a mutual agreement to terminate his Arsenal contract. He signed with the Rio de Janeiro side on a deal running until July 2028.
“I want to feel alive and important for the team,” Jorginho said. “When a player is not on the pitch, it’s hard to keep motivated. I felt I needed to go somewhere where I was going to play with joy. I had to find a place where I could enjoy football again.”
Jorginho arrived at the Emirates Stadium from Chelsea in January 2023 for a fee of around £12 million and went on to make 79 appearances across all competitions during his two-and-a-half years at the club. Despite contributing to three consecutive Premier League runners-up finishes, only 27 of those appearances came as starts — a statistic that illustrates the peripheral role he had been reduced to in the latter stages of his tenure.
The 34-year-old also addressed one of the more prominent features of Arteta’s system: a heavy emphasis on set-piece routines. While acknowledging the tactical logic and measurable results that come with such an approach, Jorginho admitted the method left him feeling creatively constrained.
“It does feel like homework, that’s the reality,” he said. “But when you do your homework, and then you have the test, you have a good result. I think people are realising now the importance of set pieces. Why is it a problem to focus and work more on it, when you get the results from that which make everybody happy? But the thing is, if you focus just on this, and then you forget about the football side, then of course, you’re not going to have beautiful football.”
Arteta’s Arsenal have long been associated with a structured, detail-oriented approach to the game, and set pieces have been a notable source of goals throughout the Spaniard’s tenure. The Gunners have finished second in the Premier League in each of the last three seasons without clinching the title, a run of near-misses that has made their style of play a recurring topic of debate in English football.
Jorginho’s comments arrive at a significant moment for Arsenal, who are currently engaged in a Premier League title race heading into a crunch fixture against Manchester City. His departure in 2025 effectively brought the curtain down on a decorated European career that included winning the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 and the UEFA Euro 2020 title with Italy.
At Flamengo, Jorginho will be looking to rediscover consistent playing time in one of South America’s most high-profile club environments. The Série A giants are perennial title contenders and regular participants in the Copa Libertadores, offering the veteran midfielder the prominent role he felt he could no longer secure in north London.
The interview adds to a broader conversation around Arteta’s methods, coming shortly after Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola publicly defended the Arsenal head coach’s playing style.
