Arsenal have reportedly reached a full agreement for the transfer of Bologna and Italy centre-back Riccardo Calafiori following a breakthrough on Saturday.
The Gunners have been in hot pursuit of the 22-year-old for a number of weeks now, and Calafiori is already thought to have given the green light to personal terms some time ago.
Juventus – who are now managed by former Bologna head coach Thiago Motta – were previously thought to be the favourites for Calafiori, but the defender quickly decided on a switch to North London.
However, negotiations were supposedly held up earlier this week due to a dispute between Bologna and Calafiori’s former club Basel, who are owed 50% of any fee that the Rossoblu receive.
Bologna were allegedly trying to get their Swiss counterparts to re-negotiate on that agreement and accept a lower cut, leading to fears that the Serie A side could call off the deal altogether.
According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, though, Arsenal and Bologna have now shaken hands on a fee, which will see the Gunners pay €40m (£33.7m) up front and another €5m (£4.2m) in add-ons.
The overall price could therefore reach €45m (£37.9m), and Bologna will also retain a sell-on clause of an unspecified percentage as they wave farewell to Calafiori after just one season.
The Rossoblu are making a healthy profit on the 22-year-old, who cost them just €4m (£3.4m) to sign from Basel last year, prior to which he came through the Roma youth system and also represented Genoa for half a season.
Calafiori registered two goals and five assists in 33 appearances across all competitions for Bologna, playing a fundamental role in the Rossoblu’s shock qualification for the 2024-25 Champions League.
The ex-Roma man subsequently started three games for Italy at Euro 2024, setting up Mattia Zaccagni’s last-gasp equaliser against Croatia in the group stage before the Azzurri lost to Switzerland in the last 16.
While Calafiori will technically become Arsenal’s second arrival of the summer following David Raya’s permanent transfer from Brentford, he will be the first new face added to Mikel Arteta’s ranks for 2024-25.
It is difficult to envisage the Italian earning any minutes centrally, as William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have forged a reputation as one of the best centre-back partnerships in world football, but he will be an incredibly useful deputy if one gets injured.
Calafiori is also a competent left-back, though, and that area has been identified as one requiring significant improvement in North London, where all of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior rotated last season.
Calafiori’s arrival could open the door for Kiwior to depart amid interest from Serie A, while there is also a question mark hanging over Zinchenko’s head after he lost his place in the side under Arteta last season.
The fit-again Jurrien Timber represents another option on the left-hand side, but the Dutchman featured centrally in a 2-0 training-ground win over Leyton Orient on Saturday.
