WHO IS RICCARDO CALAFIORI AND WHY ARE ARSENAL SPENDING £42M ON THE ITALY DEFENDER?
Arsenal are on the verge of completing the €50million (£42.1m) transfer for Bologna star Riccardo Calafiori.
The Italy international emerged as Mikel Arteta’s top target this summer after his brilliant performances at Euro 2024.
While an impressive young defender, some have been surprised to see the Gunners fork out such a large fee, especially given that buying a new centre-forward and central midfielder were viewed as bigger priorities.
Moreover, this big money money is happening just a year after Calafiori moved to Bologna for just £3.5m. So, why have Arsenal gone all out to sign him?
Calafiori’s career so far
Calafiori spent a decade in Roma’s academy and survived a near-career ending knee injury before making his senior debut in 2020 where he instantly impressed – providing an assist and scoring a (disallowed) goal in a 3-1 win against Juventus.
He didn’t do enough to impress Jose Mourinho however, who loaned him to Genoa before selling him to Swiss side Basel in 2022.
Just one season later he was back in Italy with Bologna where he played an important part in their unlikely run to fifth in the table and Champions League qualification, with his performances seeing him named Serie A Player of the Month for May.
That same month the 22-year-old was called up to the Italian national team for the first time and despite his international inexperience, started all their group games at Euro 2024.
Despite an unfortunate own goal against eventual champions Spain, he caught the eye and provided a crucial late assist against Croatia, but he was suspended for the last-16 clash against Switzerland, where Italy completely crumbled and fell to a 2-0 loss.
What position does Calafiori play?
Prior to Bologna, Calafiori was a traditional left-back, equipped with great pace and good crossing ability.
But under Thiago Motta he was repurposed as a centre-back, capable of playing in a back-three or four, which his speed, strength and height causing problems for opponents.
His fantastic passing range and ability to start attacks has been greatly praised, with some likening the player to legendary defenders Paolo Maldini and Sergio Ramos.
According to Opta, of defenders in Serie A who made a minimum of 10 appearances last season, Calafiori ranked second for recoveries per 90 (7.5), fifth for interceptions per 90 (1.9), joint-fourth for overall assists (5) and ninth for passes per 90 (68.6).
Most notably, Bologna won 16 and lost just three of the 30 league games in which the young star featured in. By contrast they won just two and lost three of the eight he missed.
How will Arsenal line-up with Calafiori?
As mentioned, some are surprised that Arteta is prioritising a defensive signing given that Arsenal conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League last season (29) and had the lowest expected goals against in Europe’s top five leagues (28.4).
The centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes is rock solid and while Calafiori will provide an excellent back-up to the latter, he will mainly operate at left-back.
This is potentially risky as he played 96% of his minutes as a centre-back at Bologna, but under Arteta he won’t operate as a traditional full-back.
In possession, he’ll invert into midfield joining Declan Rice and one other holding player, which in turn will allow Martin Odegaard to advance up the pitch and support the attack, and will revert to his starting position in defence.
Who will he replace?
Calafiori will compete with Jurrien Timber, for the left-back role , but with Takehiro Tomiyasu out injured, the Dutchman will also be needed to cover Ben White at right-back, meaning the Italian is likely to get plenty of minutes at the start of the season.
His arrival surely spells the end for Jakub Kiwior who has failed to amaze since moving to the Emirates 18 months ago. There’s interest from a few Italian clubs but at the time of writing no one has made a move.
Kieran Tierney is also surplus to requirements but won’t be leaving North London any time soon as the Scotland star recovers from a hamstring injury picked up at Euro 2024.
Oleksandr Zinchenko looked destined to be Arsenal’s first-choice left-back following a brilliant debut season, but his form nose-dived in the last campaign. His future is very much up in the air and a recent change of agent suggests he could be interested in a transfer.
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2024-07-24T10:15:07Z dg43tfdfdgfd