Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has explained their plans for Jakub Kiwior.

The former Spezia defender has been linked with a return to Serie A.

But Arteta says: "We made a decision to bring him in earlier, because we believed that whichever player we were going to sign to have the role that he had to have was going to need time, and that was the case. And we have made it difficult for him for two reasons: One, because he hasn't played that many minutes, and the second one because we asked him to play in a position that he's never played in before.

"So it's like putting William Saliba as a full-back, and saying, 'There we go, tomorrow go and perform and do what we have to do!'

"And I think he's adapted really well, I think he's playing better and better, you can tell that he's earning confidence and physically he's better, he understands the role much better and he's been really good."