4 months ago
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Arsenal’s move for Italy international defender Riccardo Calafiori has hit a fresh snag.
The Gunners had hoped to finalise a deal with Bologna before they embark on their pre-season tour of America.
Mikel Arteta’s side are in action against Bournemouth in just under a week’s time, with further games against Manchester United and Liverpool scheduled to take place on July 28 and August 1.
The prospect of Calafiori being ready to participate in any of those matches appears to be increasingly remote, however.
Reports on Wednesday claimed that a fee of €40m has now been agreed between Arsenal and Bologna, but a disagreement between the Serie A club and his former employers, Basel, over a sell-on clause has caused a delay.
According to The Times, however, the two clubs are still haggling over a fee, while Jakub Kiwior’s reluctance to join Bologna as a makeweight represents a further complication.
The Poland international joined Arsenal from Spezia 18 months ago and was forced to bide his time before being given a first team opportunity by Mikel Arteta.
Injuries to Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu, allied to Oleksandr ZInchenko’s loss of form, saw the 24-year-old promoted midway through last season and his presence in the team coincided with a blistering run of form.
Kiwior struggled badly against Leroy Sane in a Champions League tie against Bayern Munich and after he was substituted at half-time made just three subsequent appearances last season.
Bologna, for their part, would be keen to sign a defender capable of playing at centre-half and left-back and are also in talks with Juventus over a move for Daniele Rugani.
Kiwior, himself, is understood to be comfortable with a return to Serie A but his preference would be to join AC Milan who have long-standing interest in him.
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