Arsenal have gained the clear pole position to acquire Riccardo Calafiori, but they haven’t fully met Bologna’s request yet. The Felsinei aren’t budging from their €50M request plus add-ons. The counterparty hasn’t reached such a threshold for now, Calciomercato reports.
The defender has been swayed by Mikel Arteta and his style and picked them over Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen. He has agreed to personal terms. He’ll go from €700k annually to €4M. The Gunners’ offer is a lot higher than Juventus’, which couldn’t come to terms with the Rossoblù, which also had a bone to pick with them for luring away Thiago Motta.
Arsenal will have to up their offer to onboard Calafiori, but the deal isn’t in jeopardy. Bologna are resisting as they have to give 40 percent of the fee to Basel. There’s no particular rush as the defender is vacationing following Euro 2024. He was one of the few Azzurri who saved face in Germany.
The Rossoblù signed him from Switzerland for just €4M, but there were a few strings attached. They are evaluating Jakub Kiwior to replace him, but it’d eventually be a separate deal.
Our Take on Arsenal and Calafiori
Bologna are seasoned sellers and know where the real money is, in the Premier League. It’d be a major surprise if the deal didn’t come together. At that point, he probably wouldn’t transfer at all, but that would be an issue too as it’d be tough to re-engage after having more than one foot out the door and being dangled much wealthier wages.
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