Arsenal have joined the race to sign Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori this summer, according to Italian publication Tuttosport.
The Gunners have been linked with multiple centre-backs in the past few weeks and Calafiori has now emerged as a target.
The Serie A outfit have no plans to sell him unless there is a ‘monstrous offer’, but Arsenal could have an upper hand over Juventus.
Calafiori has the desire to reunite with manager Thiago Motta in Turin, but the Bianconeri may not compete financially with Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Tuttosport claim that the arrival of Calafiori at Arsenal could pave the way for the departure of Jakub Kiwior for £14.4 million.
CALAFIORI WOULD BE A SUPERB SIGNING FOR ARSENAL
The 22-year-old has made huge strides over the past year. He is a left-footed centre-back but can operate on both sides of central defence.
The Italian is also capable of playing from left-back. His positional strengths are quite similar to Kiwior, who has been linked with an exit.
However, Calafiori is much better with the ball at his feet. He had a passing accuracy of 93 percent last term, much higher than Kiwior (86 percent).
Calafiori also impressed with his aerial presence, winning 78 percent of his duels. In comparison, Kiwior only won 59 percent of his aerial challenges.
The former Basel man also has the ability to make occasional goal contributions.
He recently showed his quality with a superb lung-bursting run for Italy before delivering a quality assist for Mattia Zaccagni’s 98th-minute equaliser against Croatia.
In our view, Calafiori would be an upgrade on Kiwior. Tuttosport don’t mention the price, but Tuttojuve recently claimed that he could be available for around £40m.
Arsenal could be willing to make such an outlay for Calafiori. Kiwior has been linked with a cut-price exit, but there are Premier League clubs who could pay a higher fee.
Stats from Sofascore.com
