Perhaps the biggest Riccardo Calafiori update this week is that he’s had a new haircut and plumped for cornrows.
Corriere dello Sport report the 22-year-old has been preparing for pre-season by training ‘in the fields of his agency’ ahead of his return to Bologna and official start to preparation for the coming campaign.
According to the Italian newspaper, there’s been no change with regards to a transfer. Bologna have a ‘viable agreement’ to sell the defender to Arsenal, so it’s not the usual aspect holding up this move to Mikel Arteta’s side.
As we covered a few days ago, the issue is Bologna trying to bully FC Basel out of the 50% they’re due of the transfer fee. The original claims from Italy were quite cocky in that regard.
Bologna would tell Basel that they had to agree to much less than 50%, otherwise the Serie A club wouldn’t sell Calafiori and the Swiss side would get nothing in that regard this summer.
However, that didn’t go so well. Basel don’t need the money so aren’t so easy to manipulate. Perhaps there was a chance they would have dropped from that 50%, yet Bologna need to go about their approach better.
Corriere dello Sport add the defender has ‘already expressed’ his desire to move to Arsenal, a club he’s said to have chosen over Chelsea.
Bologna are said to have told the player they ‘will only let him leave if their financial wishes are satisfied’. Perhaps that means they’ll ask Arsenal for more money if Basel don’t budge, although it feels unlikely the Gunners would agree.
There were rumours on Friday that perhaps Arsenal themselves were having second thoughts on the defender, Corriere dello Sport have nothing in that regard, but maybe the Gunners have seen his new haircut!
