Arsenal have completed the signing of Riccardo Calafiori after reaching an agreement with Bologna for the Italian to move to the Emirates for a fee worth £42 million. The 22-year-old has signed a five-year contract until 2029 to further strengthen a defensive unit which had the most clean sheets and conceded the least number of goals in the Premier League last season. Sky Sports reports that Arsenal had to fight off potential competition for Calafiori from several Premier League rivals, Juventus, and Real Madrid, yet managed to convince the left sided defender to join Mikel Arteta’s side.
Early life and adversity
Born in Rome 2002, Riccardo Calafiori was signed by Roma at just 8 years old and managed to earn his first professional contract in 2018 at the young age of 16. The excitement around the Italian player was incredible with UEFA claiming Calafiori to be one of the 50 most promising youngsters in 2021. All seemed until a UEFA Youth League game against Viktoria Plzen where he came across the largest stumbling block of his young career. In October 2018, an unfortunate collision caused the 16 year old to suffer a brutal injury in which he tore every ligament in his left knee, as well as the meniscus and the articular capsule, a potential career ending injury. There was a growing fear that not only would Calafiori not be able to play again but that he may not even be able to walk normally due to such a life changing injury. Those at Roma had completely lost faith in the youngster, preparing for the bleak prospect of a forced retirement, however his agent at the time, Mino Raiola, refused to give up on his client. Raiola convinced Calafiori to have knee surgery in the USA like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a procedure which proved to be crucial to his career. Despite a long and hard battle against adversity to recover and then an equally tough road to prove himself at the top level following this setback, at just 22, Riccardo Calafiori has managed to secure a move to one of the most exciting clubs in Europe. Calafiori’s father nicknamed him “Ruspa”, or Bulldozer, “because he would not stop for anything”.
Combination of defensive strength and attacking enthusiasm
Calafiori has been described as being a ‘wild’ player, who likes to go on impressive runs higher up the field to create more unpredictability and options in the final third. Excelling in areas such as ball progression and shot creating actions, upon receiving the ball, Calafiori is a player who is unafraid to urgently drive into the press of a rigid defending unit rather than needing to take an extra touch and play the obvious pass when trying to break down a low block. Instead Calafiori is prepared to get forwards and play on the front foot to perhaps beat and get behind the organised first line of the press to try and open up spaces to play the ball in behind, when gaps may seem scarce. These unusual abilities for a left sided centre-back were evident to the world as we witnessed Calafiori’s involvement in Italy’s late equaliser against Croatia at the Euros in which the Italian defender’s attacking intuition played a key role in his nation salvaging a point in that group stage fixture.
Riccardo Calafiori, despite being heavily praised for his ‘wild’ and enthusiastic attacking approach, has the perfect build of a solid defender and centre-back. Standing at around 6ft 2, Calafiori is incredibly effective in aerial duels using his height and footballing intelligence to win his battles in the air and help reduce threats from set pieces and crosses arriving from wide areas. Furthermore he has excelled in the interceptions area of defending in comparison to other Serie A defenders, proving his intelligence to read and understand the game, cutting out passes which can be converted into a counter attack rather than needing to always go to ground in a desperate attempt to defend. As impressive as his on the ball statistics are, Calafiori is also one of the leading Serie A defenders for ball recoveries, proving his aggression out of possession in whatever area of the pitch he is operating in.
How will he improve Arsenal?
For the majority of last season, there was a lot of discussion and rotation regarding the left-back position at Arsenal. Following the injury of Jurrien Timber, Arsenal had to make the decision whether to start Oleksandr Zinchenko or Jakub Kiwior in the left back role. Zinchenko was massively praised by fans for his ball carrying skills and ability to support the midfield in attack in his first year at the Emirates. However in the 2023/24 campaign it seemed faith from the club and fans had deteriorated following concerns over his defensive solidity in spite of his attacking talent. On the other hand, Jakub Kiwior, originally a centre-back, has been used as a left-back by Mikel Arteta to try and offer a more defensively stable option. However, whilst Kiwior has certainly grown into the left-back role quite nicely and has earnt his fair share of credit after a number of impressive defensive displays at left back, it is undeniable that he does not possess the attacking capabilities to extensively support the midfield like Zinchenko. Riccardo Calafiori seems to have a solution to this problem, as he offers the best of both worlds. Built like a central defender, Riccardo Calafiori has the attacking intuition to support the attacking plays when needed without jeopardising Arsenal’s defensive stability; putting an end to Mikel Arteta’s left-back headache of last season.
Furthermore, Calafiori’s versatility and adaptability will suit the wide variety of tests Arsenal will have to face throughout the season. Against sides which prefer to sit back in a solid defensive shape, Arsenal will have a lot of time on the ball . Either from left-back or centre-back Calafiori’s movement into the left channel of the pitch to receive the ball, be comfortable under pressure with it, and release it creatively; makes him a fantastic option for Arsenal when facing those tricky and disciplined teams who stick to their shape. On the other hand, when up against sides more confident against the gunners such as Man City, Arsenal could spend larger periods of the game out of possession and it may become an incredibly cagey battle to continuously try and battle in the channels. In these scenarios, Calafiori will drop out into wide areas with more opportunities and breathing space to impact the game where the 22-year-old can showcase his dangerous crossing ability, a trait which could be incredibly useful with a striker like Kai Havertz lurking in the penalty area.
Finally, last season Arsenal were overwhelmingly dominant on the right side of the pitch in comparison to the left. With Ødegaard, White, and Saka collectively causing serious problems for opponents, according to Opta ,41.1% of Arsenal’s chances created came down the right hand side in the 2023/24 season. Calafiori’s dangerous attacking ability will hopefully allow Arsenal to become more dangerous down the left, and try and balance that statistic going into the 2024/25 campaign to make them a lot more unpredictable and difficult to defend against. Last season we saw glimpses of Ben White’s role to not only provide width on the overlap to support Bukayo Saka, but also his ability to invert and support the midfield became evident in games where Kiwior was playing on the left and was unable to invert like Zinchenko. By signing Calafiori, Arsenal will be able to perhaps alternate which player moves into the midfield or provides the extra width as both players are capable in each role, adding another headache for opposing coaches when preparing to face the gunners.
“We identified him as a talent that can give us skill and qualities that are going to make us better. We are signing a player with huge capacity still to develop.”
Mikel Arteta on the signing of Riccardo Calafiori
Image credits: Arsenal.com