Arsenal are looking to finalise the capture of Riccardo Calafiori ‘this week’, reports the Guardian.
After an impressive season with Bologna, in which he helped the Italians get into the Champions League, and then some impressive performances at the Euros 2024 in Germany, Arsenal have made the decision to sign the defender.
Despite having the best defensive record in the Premier League last season – Mikel Arteta is keen to keep on adding to his squad over the next few months and buying players that he believes will improve the ARSENAL squad.
It has been claimed that Calafiori has agreed terms with the Gunners and the report says that negotiations over the transfer fee and the structure of the payments have progressed over the last few days with Arsenal paying a fee of around £42 million for the defender.
Former Fiorentina player-turned-coach Massimo Orlando recently hit out at the decision for Calafiori to join Arsenal – He said: ‘Arsenal certainly do the business, for the game they have fits Calafiori perfectly. In modern football €4m (£3.4m) per year, costing over €55m (£46.5m) (in transfer fees), is not much. It was a salary that even an Italian could afford. Strange to take this figure, at this point it is better to go to Juve, who could afford it like this.
‘However, certain experiences abroad are good, especially in the Premier League. It is a fascinating but difficult championship, now we will see how he will adapt the Italian championship is more complicated tactically, but the English one has a double pace and it’s a problem.
‘I would have chosen Juve because I would have continued to learn from the coach who got me to this level. Then in a few years maybe he goes to Barcelona or Real Madrid. Juve certainly couldn’t afford it at certain prices and ARSENAL took advantage of it immediately.’
