“Riccardo Calafiori’s Arsenal Move Nears Completion with One Last Hurdle”
“Riccardo Calafiori’s Arsenal Move Nears Completion with One Last Hurdle”
Riccardo Calafiori’s Arsenal transfer has single stumbling block as deal gets green light
Arsenal are all set to complete the signing of Italy’s Euro 2024 sensation Riccardo Calafiori this week, but the move has been delayed by factors out of the Gunners’ control
Riccardo Calafiori’s imminent transfer to Arsenal has been delayed after a dispute between his former clubs over the fee they will each receive.
Italian centre-back Calafiori, 22, is expected to become Mikel Arteta’s next acquisition of the summer transfer window. The Gunners have reached an agreement in principle with his current club Bologna over a £34million fee plus add-ons.
With the transfer edging closer to completion, Calafiori has been left out of Bologna’s pre-season training camp. And it is just a matter of days before the young talent completes his medical with the north Londoners.
The details delaying the deal at the moment are not in fact to do with Arsenal at all, but reportedly Calafiori’s former clubs Roma and Basel. Swiss side Basel, whom he only left last summer, are set to earn 50% of Bologna’s profit from his Arsenal move.
But Gazetta dello Sport report that Roma – his very first club – also believe they are entitled to more money than their £2.1m sale to Basel in 2022, which included a 40% sell-on clause.
He signed for Bologna in 2022 for £3.4m, with Roma understood to have received just over £1.3m from Basel. Yet they believe they are now also entitled to 40% of his Arsenal fee, which would be a hefty additional sum of £6.7m.
Lawyers are now looking into the agreement between Roma and Basel in the hope of coming to a conclusion, with relations reaching breaking point between the two clubs.
That has all meant Calafiori’s dream Arsenal move has hit an unexpected snag. And Mikel Arteta will have to wait longer than he anticipated to begin work with his new defender, who starred at Euro 2024 earlier this summer.
The highly-rated defender’s arrival may pave the way for Jakub Kiwior’s departure. Kiwior, who was signed from Spezia in January 2023, has been linked with a return to Italy in recent months, with Napoli and AC Milan both reportedly interested.
