Riccardo Calafiori linked as transfer stories start dripping

Morning. Without any Euro 2024 action yesterday or today, there’s some Arsenal focus for today’s blog, and it looks like there’s a little bit stuff beginning to drip when it comes to transfers.

The main story is widely reported interest in Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori. The Bologna man impressed at the Euros, despite the fact Italy were pretty poor throughout, and a host of sources are saying we’re in talks etc etc. I’m a little wary, because Serie A to the Premier League isn’t a pathway many Italian players take, and even less so to Arsenal. However, there’s a lot of smoke around this one, so perhaps there is some fire.

On the most recent Arsecast Extra, James spoke a little about incoming business being somewhat tied to outgoing business, and it’s hard not to think that might well be the case here. As it stands, Arsenal are well-stacked with left-sided defenders. Gabriel is the main man at LCB, we have Jakub Kiwior who can play there too, as can Takehiro Tomiyasu. The latter pair have also featured at left-back, where we also have Oleksandr Zincheko on the books, a stricken Kieran Tierney whose future looks complicated because of that injury, and Jurrien Timber as another option.

So, it’s hard not to think that if there is genuine interest in Calafiori, someone significant from that group has got to depart. Zinchenko was on the outs during the run-in and it has been suggested he could be up for sale with just two years left on his deal and no sign that the club want to extend him, while Kiwior has – more than once – been linked with a move back to Italy. We signed him from from Spezia in January 2023, and names like AC Milan and Napoli have been mentioned as interested parties.

I suppose another thing to consider is that Mikel Arteta is kinda the reverse Arsene Wenger, in that there’s been so much focus on adding a striker and a midfielder that bringing in another defender seems on point for this manager. If he sees Calafiori as a…

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Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-07-04 05:53:46

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