Arsenal confirm signing of Riccardo Calafiori for €45m – How good is their new Italian defender?

5 assists last season 

Italy’s last minute equaliser against Croatia to confirm their place in the knockout stage was one of the most dramatic moments of Euro 2024 to date. Mattia Zaccagni may have taken the plaudits as he expertly curled the finish into the top corner, but the space was created by centre-half Riccardo Calafiori intelligently stepping into midfield, drawing players towards him and laying off the pass. The centre-back came all the way from his own half, playing a one-two and then driving with the ball and providing the assist. And he was one of the top performers for ‘the Azzurri’ at Euro 2024, and was a huge miss for Italy’s round of 16 defeat against Switzerland after being suspended.

Before a ball was kicked at the tournament, the stock was already pretty high in Calafiori after a superb season under Thiago Motta at Bologna, in which the club qualified for the Champions League. Motta has now become Juventus manager, who were one of the favourites to sign the Italian centre-back this summer. However, this Monday it’s been confirmed that he will be heading to the Premier League, with Arsenal finally getting their man. The deal reportedly cost the Gunners €45m + €5m in add-ons, and is there second major signing of the summer, after making the loan deal for keeper David Raya permanent for €31.9m.

Last week transfer guru Fabrizio Romano claimed Arsenal hd presented a long term proposal to Calafiori, and that the player only wanted to join Arsenal. The Gunners were thought to already have an excellent relationship with the Italian side after signing defender Takehiro Tomiyasu from them in 2022. Calafiori has a current market value of €45m, after receiving a +€15m increase in the recent Euro 2024 market value update, but just how good is the 22 year old? With expert insight from Italy, Transfermarkt brings you everything you need to know about the Italian. 

How good is Riccardo Calafiori?

Calafiori is far from an orthodox centre-back. As you can see in the graphic above, no other centre-half provided more assists across Europe’s top five leagues last season. His technique and vision allowed him to strive in Motta’s revolutionary system in which the centre-halves would often push forward with the ball. Jatin Dietl is Transfermarkt’s area manager in Italy, and explains more about Calafiori’s qualties: “He began his career as a left-back, but was later also employed as a central defender, particularly during his time at Bologna under Motta. Left-footed, he has excellent technique and considerable tactical intelligence, as well as a good shot from distance. He combines the qualities of a full-back with those of a modern central defender.”

“In 2019, he was included in the list of the best sixty footballers born after 2002 by the English newspaper The Guardian, while in 2021 he was listed by UEFA as one of the 50 most promising youngsters of the year.” Dietl added. At the age of 22, he has already made 129 senior club appearances, as well as five caps for Italy. He was part of the Roma team that won the Europa Conference League back in the 2021/22 season. He is not yet the finished article however and may still have flaws in his game, as Dietl expands on, “What he may have in terms of gaps in man-to-man cover and tackling, he makes up for with his quality in attacking play. But until his move to Bologna, he was never really able to show his talent on a consistent basis, it was only with the incoming Juve coach [Motta] that he became the player he is now.”

He seems destined to move on from Bologna this summer, enhanced by his performances at Euro 2024. “He definitely seems ready to take the next step.” Dietl proclaims. “He definitely needs a playing system that suits his characteristics, as being played as a pure old-fashioned defender he would be wasted and probably not a good investment.” It’s largely expected that Calafiori will play most of his football at Arsenal from the left side of defence, but his versatility will be key to Mikel Arteta.

Where will Riccardo Calafiori fit in at Arsenal?

Early reports this summer suggested Juventus were the front-runners to secure Calafiori’s signature, and were reportedly close to agreeing a deal with Bologna for a fee in the region of €40m. It was thought that Motta being the new head coach could be a deciding factor. However, the project presented by Arsenal persuaded the Italian that the Emirates would be the place to be his new home. Calafiori’s versatility could be a key pull for Mikel Arteta, with the Italian capable of playing both centre-back and left-back, but his signing would raise questions of the future of left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko who fell out of favour towards the end of last season.

It is likely Calafiori would find it hard to dislodge the current centre-back partnership at Arsenal of Gabriel and William Saliba who have become one of the most formidable duos in world football. Whilst those two and Ben White at right-back were mainstays in the best defence in the Premier League last season, the one area that needed a bit of surgery was at left-back, with Tomiyasu, ZInchenko nor Jakub Kiwior nailing down that role. Calafiori possessing more defensive acumen than Zinchenko, combined with his ability to invert and attack more naturally than Tomiyasu or Kiwior could make him a key man for Arteta.