Arsenal pushing transfer through to stop Chelsea hijack claims top insider | OneFootball

Matteo Moretto has just published his weekly column on Fabrizio Romano’s Substack, and it’s full of interesting info, particularly relating to one massive transfer which is dominating the headlines right now.

Riccardo Calafiori has quickly become one of the most in demand players on the planet, and according to Moretto Chelsea are very much one of the sides in the mix. In fact, the Blues’ interest is so strong that Arsenal, the front runners to sign the Bologna defender, are trying to push through a deal as fast possible to avoid being hijacked by a determined Blues outfit.

We’ve heard sums of around €50m mentioned as a likely asking price for the 22 year old, but it may well be that the Gunners have to pay more than that just to prevent us forcing our way into the mix.

Riccardo Calafiori playing for Italy.

Gunners scramble to secure key deal

“Arsenal have an agreement with Riccardo Calafiori, the clubs are negotiating. Arsenal have presented a first offer, I can’t say for how much but it’s a high offer,” the insider explained.

“Arsenal are pushing to get the deal done quickly, in order to get ahead of the other teams that are interested in Calafiori. First and foremost Chelsea, and then a little way behind, Juventus. There’s been an auction for him, and ultimately, Juve cannot reach the figures that the Premier League can offer.”

At the moment, it’s hard to deny that Arsenal likely offer a better package than Chelsea do overall. They have Champions League football, for starters. But it’s clear we’re still in the mix, and we have plenty to offer the young Italy international ourselves.

Even if we don’t get him, we can at least do everything we can to make sure Arsenal have to pay over the odds.