Arsenal eye Euro 2024 star but Juventus lead race | OneFootball

Arsenal are investigating the potential signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna, but Juventus currently lead the race for the defender.

LEIPZIG, GERMANY: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy celebrates after Mattia Zaccagni of Italy (not pictured) scores his team’s first goal during the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Croatia and Italy at Football Stadium Leipzig on June 24, 2024. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images for FIGC)

Matteo Moretto reports that Arsenal have investigated the profile of Bologna’s Riccardo Calafiori in recent hours, though Juventus are currently the team that is furthest ahead of the competition for a potential transfer.

Fabrizio Romano writes that Bologna will ask for a significant fee for the 22-year-old, in part because they owe FC Basel around 40% of a future transfer over €6m.

BOLOGNA, ITALY: Riccardo Calafiori of Bologna FC celebrates after the Serie A TIM match between Bologna FC and US Sassuolo at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on February 03, 2024. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Bologna director Marco Di Vaio was previously bullish on the prospect of a sale for Calafiori, saying: “We’ll see after the Euros but want to keep all our players, including Calafiori.”

But with the likes of Arsenal and Juventus circling, it’s going to become more difficult for Bologna to stand firm against the transfer interest in the centre-back.

The Gunners will likely have the financial advantage over Juventus, with Serie A clubs tending to offer lower transfer fees and Juventus already having agreed a significant deal for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz this summer.

Arsenal also have an existing relationship with Bologna, who sold the club Takehiro Tomiyasu not too long ago.

ISERLOHN, GERMANY: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy arrives at the training ground at Hemberg-Stadion on June 23, 2024. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images for FIGC)

On the other hand, we’ve seen in the past plenty of times that Italian players playing in Serie A tend to prefer to remain in the division.

Players like Manuel Locatelli have been credibly linked with Arsenal during major tournaments in the past only to decide to join Juventus instead.

Arsenal may have the advantage with Bologna, but there might be some work to do on the player’s side.

Left-footed centre-back Calafiori has made 37 appearances for Bologna in 2023/24, and he’s played in every game at Euro 2024 for Italy so far.