Riccardo Calafiori, the 22-year-old Italian defender, has drawn significant attention following a remarkable season with Bologna, where he was crucial in their qualification for the Champions League.
His exceptional form continued with the Italian national team at the Euros. Now, Bologna faces a tough task in retaining him as numerous clubs express interest.
Buy Arsenal's 2025–26 Home Kit through the ArsenalTalks Shop
Click this link to buy the new 2025–26 Arsenal home kit through our ArsenalTalks Shop.
Giovanni Sartori, Bologna’s club director, insists on keeping Calafiori but acknowledges they may consider selling if a big offer is made. Juventus is unlikely to secure him, leaving foreign clubs in the race.
Transfer expert Di Marzio indicates that Arsenal is the club outside Italy with concrete interest.
Calafiori’s ability to play both center-back and left-back makes him an attractive option for Arsenal, where he is seen as an upgrade over their current left-footed defender, Jakub Kiwior.
Calafiori’s statistics highlight his superiority, with better aerial duel wins, ball recoveries, and passing accuracy than Kiwior. He is also a stronger tackler and interceptor.
Bologna is asking for around £34 million for Calafiori. Arsenal might sell Kiwior to fund this acquisition, though Calafiori’s destination is yet to be determined, but his talent has positioned him for a lucrative transfer.
Here you'll find all collections you've created before.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings