Arsenal have emerged as title contenders under Mikel Arteta in the recent years. In 2022/23 season Gunners lost the Premier League title by five points. In 2023/24 season they came even more close and missed the title by only two points. Arteta wants to finally end Arsenal’s long drought of Premier League title in 2024/25 season. To break the streak of Manchester City, the Spaniard wants to introduce new players in his team. One of the name that has been heavily linked with Gunners is Riccardo Calafiori. The deal of Italian joining North London is being considered to get completed in a matter of time.
Arsenal had the strongest defense in Premier League in the 2023/24 season. The North London club only conceded 29 goals which is least amongst all the clubs involved. William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White made Arsenal’s defense impossible to pierce for opponents. However the one position which looked significantly week is left back position.
Arsenal’s problems with left back position
Arsenal signed Oleksandr Zinchenko in 2022 from Manchester City. In the 2022/23 season he was Arteta’s first choice full back and started 26 Premier League fixtures. However the Ukrainian was unable to impress Arteta which resulted in him making only 20 starts in 2023/24 season. Now, the Gunners are reported to part ways with Zinchenko.
After failing out of Arteta’s favour, Zinchenko was replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior. Along with Zinchenko, Kiwior is also said to leave the Emirates this summer. Tomiyasu however seems to keep his place in squad due to his superb versatility to play anywhere in the defense. Last year Arsenal signed Jurrien Timber from Ajax for £34 million. However the Dutch international only made 2 appearances as he was severely injured. The last option Arsenal has is Kieran Tierney who spent his whole 2023/24 season on loan to Real Sociedad. However the Scottish full back is set to get sold by Arsenal this summer on permanent basis.
Gunners linked heavily with Riccardo Calafiori
Riccardo Calafiori has been Arsenal’s target ever since he emerged in Euro 2024. The Italian international played in all of Italy’s group stage matches. Unfortunately he was suspended in Italy’s round of 16 fixture against Switzerland where they got knocked out of the competition. However, Calafiori had a good tournament and he caught eyes of English giants.
It has been reported that Calafiori has agreed personal terms with Arsenal. According to The Daily Mail, the talks between Arsenal and Bologna are set to happen this week. Arsenal want to sign Calafiori before they head to United States for pre-season.
Calafiori joined Bologna last year from FC Basel. He has three more years on his current Bologna contract. In addition, Calafiori has £42.5 million release clause. The 22 year old defender had a great season under Thiago Motta where he helped Bologna to achieve Champions League qualification for the first time in club’s history. Bologna want to keep Calafiori but may have to agree a deal if Arsenal are able to meet defender’s asking price. Gunners are set to offer Calafiori contract running until 2029.
Bologna want to keep Calafiori
Bologna’s technical director Giovanni Sartori expressed his wish of keeping Calafiori but also added that it is unlikely to happen. Sartori said that at the moment the club is trying to keep Calafiori. He added that however the club will need to think if important requests arrive. Sartori also stated that the club president wants to keep the whole team for the next season.
Riccardo Calafiori’s arrival to North London may give him a role as left back. The 22 year old plays as left sided defender but is able to adapt as left back due to his ability to move forward and help team in attacking. His addition to Gunners side will play a very important role in Arteta’s hunt for the Premier League title.
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