Bologna defender set to complete £42m transfer to Premier League club after turning down interest from Juventus and Real Madrid
Juventus, Real Madrid and an unnamed Premier League club are all said to have made enquiries for Riccardo Calafiori in recent weeks but the 22-year-old Italian pushed for a move to the Emirates.
The Gunners are now negotiating over payment structure and clauses in a deal expected to total around £42m, according to Sky Italy.
Gabriel Magalhaes appears to be the Arsenal player whose starting position is most under threat from the versatile left-footed defender who starred at Euro 2024.
However, Calafiori will also offer his new head coach Mikel Arteta an option at left-back.
Who is Riccardo Calafiori?
Calafiori is a product of Roma’s academy and played on the left throughout his youth career. He made 18 senior appearances in the Italian capital before being deemed surplus to requirements by Jose Mourinho.
A move to FC Basel, where he was tasked with playing through the middle, proved to be a crucial turning point in the young defender’s career.
That impressive domestic form led to his debut for Italy ahead of Euro 2024 and he went on to be one of his nation’s stars despite a disappointing tournament.
The highlight was his assist for Mattia Zacagni’s dramatic 98th minute equaliser that effectively ended Croatia’s tournament.
After running from deep, Calafiori played a one-two with Davide Frattesi in midfield before recollecting the ball, driving deep into the heart of Croatia’s defence and playing a perfectly weighted pass out to Zacagni, who curled the ball into the far corner without breaking stride.
It was the sort of marauding run forward that helps explain why Calafiori earned that childhood nickname and why those Stones comparisons are so apt.
“His style of play is closest to mine,” Calafiori has said of the City defender. “Stones is my reference. It’s not off-the-cuff when I go into midfield. It’s following the guidelines of the coach. He saw me in this role. I’ve learned oceans off him. The coach is revolutionary, smart, demanding and clear in what he wants.”
If there is a hint of Pep Guardiola inspiration about Calafiori’s play, it is perhaps not surprising. The coach he talks about in such glowing terms in the quote above is Thiago Motta, who played alongside Arteta in Barcelona’s youth ranks when Guardiola starred for the first-team.
How could Arsenal line up with Calafiori?
Despite Gabriel forming one of the Premier League’s most formidable defensive pairings with William Saliba, he is more of a traditional no-nonsense stopper than cultured, modern defender.
In contrast, Calafiori registered five assists and created 17 chances for Bologna last season as his purposeful runs forward and defence-splitting passes caught the eye.
That could mean Arteta opts to pair Calafiori alongside Saliba at centre-back, particularly in games where Arsenal are expected to dominate possession and face teams sitting deep.
The other option would be to start Calafiori at left-back, which has been something of a problem position for Arsenal in recent years, and encourage him to drift into midfield like Oleksandr Zinchenko has previously.
Zinchenko had appeared to nail down his place as the so-called “inverted full-back” but lost his place at the end of last season to Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior.
As a better ball-playing defender than Kiwior, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Calafiori could be tasked with starting out wide and making a similar impact to converted centre-back Ben White on the right flank.
