Yahoo Sports Who is Riccardo Calafiori? All you need to know about the Arsenal target
Despite interest from Juventus, Liverpool, Real Madrid and basically every other top European side, Arsenal are close to winning the race to sign Riccardo Calafiori this summer.
The highly rated defender is set to put pen to paper on a deal at the Emirates Stadium, adding even more defensive might to an already extremely impressive Arsenal lineup.
So ahead of his move being officially confirmed, here's everything Arsenal fans need to know about Calafiori.
Tune in to 90min's YouTube channel as Harry Symeou gets the expert lowdown on Riccardo Calafiori from Italian football journalist Alessandro Eremiti.
Calafiori is exactly the type of centre-back you'd expect Mikel Arteta to be a fan of.
As his mazy run and subsequent assist for Mattia Zaccagni's late winner against Croatia at Euro 2024 attests, the 22-year-old is very, very comfortable on the ball. In total during the 2023/24 season, Calafiori completed just shy of 90% of his attempted passes (over 1600 in total), with a good chunk of those passes being progressive ones at that - 21 per game according to FBref.
The Italian international is equally adept out of possession too. Only five defenders made more interceptions than the front-footed centre-back throughout last season, while his 7.5 ball recoveries per game also stood out on the stat sheet too.
The fact that he's also left-footed, can play as a left-back or centre-back and is 6'2 also helps quite a bit.
What are his weaknesses?
Honestly, there aren't too many.
If we had to pick something though, we'd say that being a defender who plays on front-foot does have its drawbacks at times. Calafiori can be caught out of position by being aggressive off-the-ball at times.
Calafiori did actually make the fifth most errors leading to opposition shots on goal in Serie A last season, although that number was only three... which isn't the end of the world.
How has he performed at Bologna?
When you consider the fact that, in Calafiori's only season with Bologna, the club qualified for the Champions League for the first time in five decades, it's fair to say that the centre-back did pretty well in Tuscany.
Calafiori was a key man in Thiago Motta's ambitious tactical setup last season, regularly being relied upon to progress his team up the pitch.
He did so brilliantly, rightfully earning a starting berth at Euro 2024, a Serie A player of the month award in May, and a big-money move to Arsenal as a result.
What footballer, past or present, does he compare to?
If you've been on X over the last month, you'll know that Calafiori has been compared to literally every Italian defender of the early 2000s... mainly because of his barnet.
Football-wise, there are some merits to the comparisons though.
Although nowhere near the level of a Paolo Maldini yet (or potentially ever, which is fine, he's probably the best defender ever), one can see a bit of Maldini in Calafiori. The quality on and off the ball, the fact that he's left-footed and can play as a left-back or centre-back - it makes sense.
