Before a ball was kicked at the tournament, the stock was already pretty high in Ricardo Calafiori after a superb season under Thiago Motta at Bologna, in which the club qualified for the Champions League. Motta has now become Juventus manager, who are one of the favourites to sign the Italian player this summer.
There is also fierce competition from the Premier League, with Liverpool one of the clubs particularly interested in his services. Calafiori has a current market value of €30 million, but just how good is the 22-year-old?
How good is Riccardo Calafiori?
Calafiori is far from an orthodox centre-back. No other centre-backs provided more assists across Europe’s top five leagues last season. His technique and vision allowed him to strive in Motta’s revolutionary system in which the centre-backs would often push forward with the ball.
Seun Onakoya, our Serie A expert explains more about Calafiori’s qualities:
“He began his career as a left-back, but was later also employed as a central defender, particularly during his time at Bologna under Motta. He is left-footed, he has excellent technique and considerable tactical intelligence, as well as a good shot from distance. He combines the qualities of a full-back with those of a modern central defender.”
“In 2019, he was included in the list of the best sixty footballers born after 2002 by the English newspaper The Guardian, while in 2021 he was listed by UEFA as one of the 50 most promising youngsters of the year.” Seun added.
At the age of 22, he has already made 129 senior club appearances, as well as five caps for Italy. He was part of the Roma team that won the Europa Conference League back in the 2021/22 season. He is not yet the finished article however and may still have flaws in his game.
What he may have in terms of gaps in man-to-man cover and tackling, he makes up for with his quality in attacking play. But until his move to Bologna, he was never really able to show his talent on a consistent basis, it was only with the incoming Juve coach [Motta] that he became the player he is now.
He seems destined to move on from Bologna this summer, enhanced by his strong start to Euro 2024.
Who could sign Riccardo Calafiori this summer?
Reports suggest Arsenal are the current front-runner to secure his signature, and is reportedly close to agreeing on a deal with Bologna for a fee in the region of €40m.
It’s thought that Mikel Arteta being the head coach and the Arsenal project being attractive are deciding factors. What this says for Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the coming weeks is left to be seen if Calafiori thus signs.
When it comes to competition in the Premier League, Chelsea [any suprises] appear to be interested in player swap deal of some sort. It is thought that new manager Enzo Maresca would like to add to this ranks at centre-backs and Calafiori could be the perfect fit especially with Thiago Silva gone and Benoit Badashile failing to impress.
With the scarcity of quality left-footed ball-playing defenders, Ricardo Calafiori will certainly be a shrewd buy for any club that secures his signature.
