Teamwork makes the dream work

Arsenal now favourites to land “monster” star who’s like Ben White

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It has been over three weeks for the reason that switch window swung open, and whereas there was some motion right here and there, it appears like golf equipment are ready for the European Championships to finish earlier than actually splashing the money.

Within the case of Arsenal, they’ve made two everlasting signings up to now, welcoming 18-year-old Lucas Nygaard to the staff and executing the choice to purchase in David Raya’s mortgage deal from Brentford.

Nonetheless, primarily based on current experiences, Mikel Arteta seems to be set to welcome a participant who has caught the footballing world’s consideration just lately and shares many similarities with the Gunners’ star right-back, Ben White.

Arsenal switch information

In keeping with a current report from transfers professional Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal are edging nearer to securing the providers of Bologna’s star defender Riccardo Calafiori after agreeing private phrases with the Italian.

Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori

The journalist revealed that the Gunners are actually the clear favourites to land the participant’s signature, as there have been no talks with Paris Saint-Germain, Bayer Leverkusen, or Chelsea Soccer Membership.

An earlier report from Romano revealed that the North Londoners have agreed to a five-year cope with the 22-year-old that may see him earn €4m-per-year, the equal of round £3.4m.

Calafiori-Italy-Euro-2024 (2)

Stories during the last week or so declare that the switch payment will price Arsenal round £42m, and whereas it is some huge cash altogether, Calafiori seems to be like an extremely thrilling defender, and the very fact he shares some similarities with White is undoubtedly reassuring.

The similarities between Calafiori and White

So, whereas Calafirori loved an distinctive Serie A marketing campaign with Bologna final season and helped them qualify for the Champions League, he actually caught the attention of the broader footballing world because of his spectacular shows for a lacklustre Italy staff on the Euros this summer season.

He began and starred in all three group video games for the Azzurri in Germany and solely missed the spherical of 16 match in opposition to Switzerland – the sport that noticed the staff eradicated – resulting from selecting up two yellow playing cards.

Within the three video games he did function, he performed as a centre-back, however throughout his profession, he is began extra video games at full-back, within the first elementary similarity he shares with White.

For instance, in 129 appearances, he has began 49 video games at left-back and two at right-back whereas beginning 43 at centre-back. The Englishman, who’s 4 years his senior, has now reached 100 begins at right-back, and with how his profession has progressed in current seasons, he appears destined to surpass his 200 begins at centre-back inside a number of years.

Alongside their positional versatility, the 2 stars are additionally progressive and forward-thinking defenders. For instance, final season, the Italian “monster,” as dubbed by knowledge analyst Ben Mattinson, scored two targets and supplied 5 assists in 33 appearances for the Rossoblu, equating to a formidable common of a aim involvement each 4.71 video games.

Calafiori-Euro-2024-Italy

Likewise, the previous Brighton & Hove Albion gem scored 4 targets and supplied 5 assists in 51 appearances for the Gunners, which means he averaged a aim involvement each 5.66 video games for the Premier League runners-up.

Finally, if Arsenal are to go on and at last overtake Manchester Metropolis as the most effective staff in England, they are going to want a squad bursting to the seams with expertise. Whereas they already had the most effective defence within the league final season, including a participant like Calafiori can solely be a superb factor, particularly as he already appears to have quite a bit in frequent with the unimaginable White.

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The “phenomenal” expertise has has been unreal for Arteta.