‘Some sources suggest…’: Fabrizio Romano drops early morning update over £38.1m Liverpool transfer target | OneFootball

Liverpool continue to be omitted from Fabrizio Romano’s updates concerning  highly-rated defender Riccardo Calafiori.

The Italian journalist confirmed that both Arsenal and Chelsea’s interest in the Euros star remains after an impressive campaign for club and country.

Whilst an official price tag has yet to emerge, there are some suggestions that Bologna will be looking for around £38.1-42.3m this summer.

“Arsenal’s interest in Riccardo Calafiori is there, and negotiations could be something to mention in the next days. Arsenal and Chelsea are the two clubs interested in Calafiori, though we’re waiting for a bid and for formal steps. Still, the interest is there, because both clubs are looking for a similar player – left-footed, and someone who can play either left-back or centre-back,” the CaughtOffside columnist told the Daily Briefing.

Romano went on to add: “So, Calafiori is on Arsenal’s list, though they also have other names, and it’s the same for Chelsea – both clubs are very interested, so we’ll provide an update if or when they make proposals.

“For now, they’re still waiting to understand the player’s preference and also how much is needed for Bologna; the price tag is not clear yet, some sources suggest around €45-50m [£38.1-42.3m] because his former club Basel will receive almost 50% on the future sale.”

The Serie A centre-back was unfortunately forced to watch proceedings on the sidelines as Italy were dumped out of the European Championship by an impressive Switzerland outfit.

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The Merseysiders are still weighing up the possibility of adding a new centre-half to their ranks following Joel Matip’s departure as a free agent. This comes amid ongoing links to Calafiori (TEAMtalk).

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Why wouldn’t Calafiori appeal to Liverpool?

Riccardo Calafiori of Italy interacts with Gianluigi Buffon – (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images for FIGC)

It’s hard to imagine why exactly we haven’t been thrown in alongside Chelsea and Arsenal in Romano’s latest updates on the former Basel star.

At 22 years of age, and potentially valued cleanly under £50m after an impressive tournament, it’s the kind of signing you’d expect to tick boxes over at the AXA training centre.

Not all things that make sense on paper, of course, translate quite as cleanly in the underlying data. There’s also every chance that the club is still stung to a certain degree by the multitude of failed Italian signings littering our history books.

However, sooner or later – one surely has to buck the trend, no?

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