Bologna are in a position to settle for an offer of around €55m (£46. 5m) from Arsenal for defender Riccardo Calafiori, and the Italian defender is set to sign for the Gunners.
Calafiori, 22, has one of Arsenal and Chelsea’s most sensible moving goals after a very good crusade in Bologna, helping the Serie A side qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Despite Italy’s early exit from Euro 2024, the centre-back has inspired Germany as Arsenal are now close to agreeing a deal to take him to the Premier League.
Corriere dello Sport reports that Bologna won a “monstrous” offer of around €55m from Arsenal on Thursday afternoon, an offer that would have convinced the Serie A side to sell.
Mikel Arteta’s side wanted to reach a temporary deal with Chelsea, who are also interested and have now submitted an offer to see them cross the line temporarily.
The deal is now in the hands of Bologna president Joey Saputo and CEO Claudio Fenucci.
Arsenal have also agreed terms with Calafiori, who will quadruple his salary in Bologna by moving to north London. Arsenal have sanctioned a four-year contract for the defender, according to the report.
Earlier this week, Bologna manager Giovanni Sartoria admitted that Calafiori would most likely leave the club if he won a “significant” bid outside Italy.
“We hired him 12 months ago, so we will see what happens in the market, but in our heads is the will to retain him,” Sartori said.
“We will try to keep it, but if big offers come in we will have to take them into account.
“I don’t think it’s happening to move to Juventus, it’s probably happening to move to another market. “
Arsenal have one of the Premier League’s centre-back pairings with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães, but the addition of Calafiori would provide an additional point of intensity to a team that is preparing for war on 4 fronts next season.
Another attacking option is on Arsenal’s summer target list, however, with the club having been looking in “all departments” after missing out on a Premier League title last season.
“We’re looking at each and every possible domain,” Arteta told ESPN this week.
“With the new regulations, there are some things that we have to respect and that we have to be aware of and then, obviously, the European Championship and the Copa America slow everything down. I hope he does it a little now.
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