Arsenal New Signing Riccardo Calafiori Positions Revealed
Mikel Arteta has revealed that new signing Riccardo Calafiori will be utilised in both centre-back and left-back positions at Arsenal following his transfer from Bologna.
The Italian defender has signed a long-term contract with the Gunners, enhancing their defensive depth. Arsenal boasted the Premier League’s most formidable defense last season.
Calafiori has already integrated with his new team ahead of their pre-season friendly against Liverpool. Prior to the match, Arteta expressed his satisfaction with completing the transfer.
The Spaniard said: “Yes, very happy. It took a while. He is a player that we have monitored for about a year. We were really short in the backline last season in terms of numbers.
“We demanded so much from them. Wily [Saliba] for example played every minute of the Premier League and we believe that we have to make them much more protected.
“We identified him as a top player, a talent who has the skills and qualities that are going to make us better. He is still a player with a huge capacity to develop.
“Both positions especially and the way we want to play and the things we want to evolve. In our game model he is a player who is going to fit really well for what we want.
“Yes, I am very happy that we got Riccardo done. As I said, I think it was very important to have reinforcement in the back line, with the issues we had last year especially once Jurrien [Timber] was injured. It increases the competition, increases the quality and very good news for the team.”
Arteta mentioned that having additional defensive options will help prevent Arsenal players such as Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba from experiencing burnout in future seasons.
He revealed: “Especially the numbers. We ended up with six defenders in the backline. At this level you have to be really lucky to sustain a season like this.
“We were lucky because Willy and Gabi could play every minute, they played more than 50% more minutes than the previous season.
“Whether they can sustain that for three or four years is a big question mark. At this level you can’t just bet on that. That’s a big bet, and we didn’t want to take it.”
Arsenal are set to face Liverpool following their recent 2-1 victory over Manchester United, with goals scored by Gabriel and Martinelli.
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