Calafiori: First player Mourinho scouted at Roma ready for big Italy step at EURO 2024 | OneFootball

Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori will make his EURO 2024 debut with Italy against Albania this evening, reaching a new height in an already remarkable campaign.

Two years ago today, Calafiori had just returned to Roma from a disappointing loan spell at Genoa, and Basel were one of the few clubs interested in securing his services.

Calafiori wasn’t entirely convinced about joining Basel, but ultimately, the move worked out for both parties.

As the 22-year-old said in a recent press conference from Coverciano, Basel was eventually the best place to get consistent playing time at a senior level and after one year, Bologna and Thiago Motta brought him back to Italy again for just €4m and a 50% sell-on clause.

Calafiori: First player Mourinho scouted at Roma ready for big Italy step at EURO 2024

Calafiori isn’t only one of the best products of the Roma academy in recent years, but he suddenly became extremely popular in 2021 a few days after José Mourinho’s appointment.

It was when the Special One posted a video in which he appeared to be ‘studying’ the Giallorossi squad, focusing on the promising defender who was playing as a left-back at that time.

Calafiori eventually made nine appearances under the Special One, including three in the Conference League won by the Giallorossi, before leaving in the summer of 2022 to allow Roma to comply with FFP restrictions.

While at Basel, he scored one goal in 38 appearances convincing Bologna to bring him back to Serie A. Nobody imagined that would be a huge turning point in the defender’s career.

Under Thiago Motta, Calafiori started playing consistently as a centre-back and the first three months of action in the 2023-24 campaign were enough to attract Spalletti’s attention.

Calafiori’s impressive 2023-24 campaign under Motta at Bologna

In his first interview of 2024, the Azzurri CT said Calafiori was ‘ready’ to play for the national team but he eventually waited until the Euros to give him his first call-up so the U21 squad could benefit from the defender’s talent in European qualifiers.

Calafiori made his senior Azzurri debut less than ten days ago, in an international friendly against Turkey in Bologna.

He started for the first time last week against Bosnia and Herzegovina and this evening, he will make his EURO 2024 debut with the Azzurri starting in a four-man defence alongside Inter star Alessandro Bastoni.

Bastoni’s personality, technical skills and physicality have convinced Spalletti to give him a starting spot in a system that he knows well from his experience with Bologna and Thiago Motta.

The promising defender is so confident on the ball that Spalletti even tried him in an unusual No.10 role at Coverciano during EURO 2024 preparations.

Calafiori ended the 2023-24 campaign with two goals, both scored against Juventus in the last home game of the season.

Motta, the new Bianconeri boss, would love to work with Calafiori again next season, but first, the 22-year-old must focus on the next and arguably the biggest step of his career.