Exclusive: Arsenal could land £45m-rated EPL defender as well as Calafiori



There are just four weeks left until the 2024/25 Premier League season kicks off, and Arsenal will be hoping that any deals that are currently in abeyance are signed and sealed by then.

Riccard Calafiori has long been touted for a move to the Emirates Stadium, and sporting director, Edu, will need to work hard and fast to get a deal over the line with the Italian’s current club, Bologna.

Arsenal hoping to land Calafiori and Zabarnyi

At 22 years of age, Calafiori represents a player for the current Arsenal set up and well into the future.

That would also apply to Bournemouth’s 21-year-old Ukrainian defender, Ilya Zabarnyi, who CaughtOffside sources note that Arsenal are also monitoring.

It’s understood that the Cherries would be loathe to lose Zabarnyi, though they could be tempted to do business if they receive offers around the £40m/£45m mark.

Riccardo Calafiori isn’t the only defensive signing Mikel Arteta wants at Arsenal

There are many names on Arsenal’s list of potential targets sources suggest, including strikers as well as defenders, but with pre-season having already started for all clubs, the Gunners don’t have long to get those transfers over the line.

Club scouts watched the Ukrainian defender at Euro 2024, and it’s believed that the reports that filtered back to the powers that be were all positive.

If Mikel Arteta can bring in one or two more high quality exponents, he will arguably have strengthened what he already had in situ, and given himself the luxury of having more depth in his squad.



He’ll certainly need that in what’s expected to be another gruelling campaign, and one that could be Pep Guardiola’s last at Man City.

The Catalan will be hoping to land an unprecedented fifth Premier League title in a row, and a seventh in eight years, which is the scale of the task facing Arteta and his young squad.