Riccardo Calafiori provides Arsenal's defence with much-needed versatility and depth

On Monday evening, Arsenal announced their first summer signing, no we're not including David Raya's loan being made permanent, with Riccardo Calafiori arriving from Bologna. As reported James McNicholas of the Athletic, the fee is expected to rise to £42 million, while he'll become only the fourth Italian to represent the Gunners, after Arturo Lupoli, Vito Mannone and current teammate Jorginho. So, who is Calafiori, why have Arsenal signed him and can he help Mikel Arteta's side claim that illusive Premier League title?

Riccardo Calafiori: An unlikely rise to the top

Despite only celebrating his 22nd birthday as recently as May, Arsenal will be Calafiori's fifth club, now looking to settle somewhere long term having bounced around.

His career could actually have been over before it ever even began. Back in 2018, mere months after signing his first pro-contract with boyhood club Roma, an unfortunate collision with Václav Svoboda of Viktoria Plzeň during a UEFA Youth League fixture at Stadio Tre Fontane saw Calafiori suffer a potentially career-ending knee injury. “It’s true, my career risked coming to an end there and then,” Calafiori said years later, sent to the University of Pittsburgh for a consultation with specialist Dr Volker Musahl which, as noted by James Horncastle of the Athletic, is credited with saving Calafiori's career.

The defender had to wait until August 2020 for his senior debut for I Giallorossi, starting a 3-1 win at Juventus no less, while his first senior goal came against BSC Young Boys in the Europa League later that year, and it wasn't a bad strike. His dream had been to emulate heroes Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi in being Romanisti one club men, but he would make just 18 appearances for la Lupa, sold to FC Basel for a miserly €2.6 million in 2022. He impressed enough will donning the RotBlau in Switzerland that Bologna brought him back to Italy for only €4 million last August, so how has his value increased ten-fold in under a year?

Well, he was part of a Bologna side that finished fifth in Serie A last season, the highest they've come since 1971, meaning I Rossoblù will compete in the Champions League for the first time since 1964 later this year. Calafiori was a key figure in their unlikely rise, starting 30 Serie A matches, drawing wide-spread praise. This, belatedly, earned him international recognition, making his debut during a five minute cameo against Türkiye in a June friendly, before starting at centre-back against Bosnia five days later. Luciano Spalletti was widely criticised for entrusting a rookie on the eve of a tournament but, by the end of the month, Calafiori turned out to be the only Azzurri player to leave Germany with any credit. The defender shone as his team rather stumbled through the group phase, bursting out of defence to tee-up Mattia Zaccagni's last gasp equaliser against Croatia, without which they would've crashed out. Nevertheless, four days later, the reigning European champions were rather meekly dumped out by Switzerland in the round of 16 and, having been booked against both Albania and Croatia, Calafiori sat in Olympiastadion stands, which only served to raise his stock.

What will Riccardo Calafiori bring to Arsenal?

Leonardo Bonucci, who knows a thing or two about being a top-class defender said: “Riccardo is different from the other defenders… he’s good on the ball. He’s got character and likes to step into midfield”. I couldn't put it better myself Leonardo! Meanwhile, his club manager from last season Thiago Motta, who desperately wanted to take Calafiori with him to Juventus, stated: “Riccardo can do anything because he’s got courage. He believes in himself, I remember when he joined he was a full-back or a centre-back in a back three".

These two quotes perfectly encapsulate what Arsenal's new signing will bring. His ability to bring the ball forwards, driving into midfield, gives the Gunners' an extra dynamic. Mikel Arteta is also collecting high-quality, highly-versatile defenders. William Saliba and Gabriel are the undisputed first-choice centre-back duo, and Arsenal were very luck that the pair were able to play 4502 and 4331 minutes receptively last season. The other defenders in the squad, Benjamin White, Jurriën Timber, Jakub Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Calafiori are all capable of playing both at full-back as well as in the middle, hence why players like Kieran Tierney and, potentially, Oleksandr Zinchenko are being phased out. Arteta himself said "we were really short in the backline last season in terms of numbers and we demanded so much from them", a situation he's desperate not to encounter again. So, while Calafiori's arrival may not be the most exciting, nor is he guaranteed to be a starter from day one, but having a deep squad is now so more important than ever before, so this signing is a statement of intent.

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