Arsenal are planning to improve the squad depth by signing new players in this summer transfer window. At the start of this summer transfer window, the Gunners already completed the permanent move of David Raya from Premier League side Brentford, who spent a season-long loan spell with Arsenal last season. Now the club was looking for a new defender. So, Arsenal are chasing Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori of Italian club Bologna.
In the last season, Arsenal had the best defensive record in the Premier League division. The Gunners just conceded 29 goals last season, the lowest in the league even 5 goals lower than Premier League Champion Manchester City. Two main Center-back of the gunners, Gabriel and William Saliba both had a remarkable season. Saliba played all the 38 games in the Premier League. However, their performance was not good enough to secure the Premier League title, losing the title to Manchester City second consecutive season. So, Mikel Arteta wants to improve the club that can help him win the title this season. Riccardo Calafiori is the main target of Arsenal after the signing of David Raya.
The Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori had an outstanding season at the club level last season. The 22-year-old appeared 33 times in the Seria last season for Bologna. Although Calafiori played in one of the central defender positions, he often came forward on the pitch and sometimes ended up scoring goals or providing assists to his teammates. Not at the club level, Calafiori also performed well in the Euro 2024 for Italy. He continuously performed brilliantly for Italy except in the match against Spain where his own goal was the only goal of that match, helped Spain to win the match. However, that will not change his status in the transfer market. He remains the primary target for many Clubs. But, it seems like Arsenal will complete the move of Riccardo Calafiori this summer.
Who will replace Riccardo Calafiori in Arsenal?
Arsenal were facing a major problem in the left-back side on the pitch last season. Although former Manchester City player Oleksandr Zinchenko was Artetaโs main option for the left-back position, as the season progressed Polish international Jakub Kiwior often played as the Gunners’ main left-back. So, Mikel Arteta is looking for a perfect left-back player who could play throughout the season and also able to perform brilliantly in the whole season. Riccardo Calafiori can play in the Left-back position as well other than the Center-defender position. So, it seems like Arteta will replace Riccardo Calafiori for the left-back position in the Arsenal squad next season. Arsenal fans will be very happy about their potential defensive line for the next season if Calafioriโs move ultimately happens.
According to Fabrizio Romano, everything is done between Bologna and Arsenal over the move of Riccardo Calafiori. Now the Italian international will fly over to London for the medical and then join the Arsenal squad later in the USA for the pre-season. Arsenal will pay a transfer fee of around 50M for Riccardo Calafiori to complete their second signing of this season. The 22-year-old will sign a five-year contract until 2029.
Other Arsenal News
Arsenal start their Pre-season campaign against Bournemouth. Up next Mikel Arteta’s side will meet Manchester United and Liverpool, before facing last season’s Bundesliga Champion Leverkusen. Some arsenal players might leave in this summer including Reiss Nelson as newly promoted Leicester City are chasing him. Apart from Nelson, Emillie Smith Rowe is chased by Crystal Palace, and French side Marseille are interested in signing Arsenal striker Edward Nkeiah. Well, no official offers were made for each player but these players could leave Arsenal this season.
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