The Italian footballers said goodbye to defending the European crown in an anxious way. Not only were they beaten by two goals, but Luciano Spalletti’s men were completely outplayed by Switzerland in the last 16 of the continental tournament, with Riccardo Calafiori the bright spot among the lethargic Azzurri. The 22-year-old played in all three games in the group stage and his style of play reminded him a little of the famous defenders from the past of Italian football. Not only has he increased his international status, but Calafiori has further fueled the interest of a number of clubs to start circling Bologna’s stadium and pounce on the executives of the club that will debut in the Champions League next autumn.Arsenal interested in Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori 🇮🇹There has been no formal approach, and he’s one of a number of players that Arsenal are looking at 🔴 pic.twitter.com/i9bs3C0L12— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 3, 2024 In the sea of financially powerful clubs, the most concrete is Arsenal. According to information from Corriere Dello Sport and confirmation from Gianluca Di Marzio, the Gunners offered 47,000,000 euros in compensation and thus gained a pole position compared to Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen who are also interested. It is worth pointing out that Rosoblu will receive only 50 per cent of the money from Calafiori’s sale and that the rest goes to Basel, from where the Rome-born footballer arrived in Bologna last summer for a compensation of 4,000,000 euros and half of the money from the next transfer.Despite interest from Parc des Princes, Stamford Bridge, Bay Arena – Calafiori is the closest to the Emirates, and Arsenal’s sports department led by coach Mikel Arteta and his staff presented the boy born in 2002 with “the most intriguing project”. The current week could be decisive in closing the entire deal.##NAJAVA_MECA_8191715##Bologna has been waiting for concrete proposals for some time, Juventus seemed to be the closest, they tried to buy Calafiori for the longest time, and Thiago Motta wanted the very young stopper to be the pillar in the defensive structure of the Old Lady for many years to come. Meanwhile, Bologna’s sports director Giovanni Sartori rejected the possibility by saying “I don’t think he will go to Juventus, maybe to another market. There are requests from many teams, and if big offers arrive, we will have to think about it,” Sartori said recently. Now Arsenal has come to the fore, but there is no doubt that the others who are able to pay will also fly around like vultures and try to overtake the vice-champion of England.
