AC Milan and Roma have joined the race to sign Arsenal defender but the Gunners have no interest in letting him leave.

Roma and AC Milan appear set to be let down in their pursuit of Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior in January.

This is according to Tuttomercatoweb, who claims Arsenal wants to keep Kiwior.

In January, Arsenal paid £20 million to sign Kiwior from Spezia, giving them another left-footed center back option.

The Pole was brought in to compete with Gabriel Magalhaes, but there is growing speculation about a possible return to Italian football.

AC Milan join race for Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior

According to Tuttomercatoweb, AC Milan has joined Roma in the race to sign Kiwior.

Jose Mourinho is reportedly interested in bringing Kiwior to Roma as a replacement for Evan Ndicka, who will be representing the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Milan has now made contact with Kiwior’s agent in order to secure a loan deal.

However, Arsenal is completely opposed to any loan exit, preferring to keep Kiwior.

Letting Kiwior go would mean Arsenal going back into the market for another left-sided defender, which just doesn’t add up.

Maybe Arsenal would sell Kiwior if they received an enticing cash offer, but that seemingly isn’t going to arrive from Milan or Roma.

Kiwior may not play much in 2024

We could hardly blame Kiwior if he fancied making the move back to Italy for a few months.

The 23-year-old has started just two Premier League games this season and played only six minutes of Champions League action.

Mikel Arteta is unlikely to start throwing Kiwior into big Premier League or Champions League games in 2024, so his minutes will be limited.

Kiwior will simply have to be ready to go if the opportunity arises; perhaps Gabriel is injured, or Arteta prefers to play him at left back.

Arteta clearly admires Kiwior, describing him as having “incredible potential,” but he will appear to have to be patient in his pursuit of first-team football at Arsenal.