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Arsenal have had to stay patient when it comes to their move for Riccardo Calafiori. But that is something they have shown they are willing to be when it comes to landing players they really want.
You just have to look at when they signed Martin Odegaard on a permanent basis from Real Madrid in 2021 as a prime example of that.
They were made to wait all summer by Madrid and could easily have grown frustrated and moved on to other targets. But they were happy to play the waiting game because Mikel Arteta and Edu were convinced Odegaard was a player who could take the team to the next level and they have been rewarded for that patience.
They have not had to wait as long for Calafiori as they did for Odegaard and I don’t think they were ever worried that the deal would not get done. It feels like talks with Bologna have gone relatively well. It’s the massive sell-on fee that Basel will be due for the deal that has made things a bit tricky.
Ideally, Arteta would have wanted to have this one done in time for Calafiori to travel out with the squad for the start of the USA tour. That hasn’t proved to be possible, but the signs are that the deal could be finalised by the end of the week and should that happen, then Arsenal will certainly fly the Italian out to the States to link up with his new team-mates.
Even if he is deemed not ready to play, Arteta will want him out there. He is very big on having new arrivals included for a pre-season tour as he believes that is the perfect environment for them to get to know their new team-mates ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
I think it’s a really exciting signing for Arsenal. Left-back was one of two positions in the team last season where there was no real consistency. Arteta was having to mix and match throughout the season, with the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakob Kiwior all filling in there.
All of them have their qualities, but when you look at Calafiori and where his strengths are, he looks like a really smart signing. He has the qualities to invert into midfield from left-back thanks to how comfortable he is with the ball when he drives forward. But if Arteta wants…
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