Riccardo Calafiori: Arsenal has the best Premier League defence

Arsenal has just completed the stunning signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna, and the Italian defender makes them a much stronger team.

Calafiori was one of the best defenders in Serie A last season and was instrumental as Bologna qualified for the Champions League against all odds.

The defender had been expected to move to Italy’s biggest club, Juventus, this summer, and it was supposed to be an easy move for the Old Lady after they made his former manager, Thiago Motta, their coach.

Calafiori returned to Italy from Basel to work with Motta at Bologna and it was an inspiring decision for him.

He improved greatly, and having struggled at AS Roma, became the best defender in the Italian top flight, with every club looking to sign him.

Juve should have completed a move for him as soon as last season ended, but they decided to wait until the end of Euro 2024.

That decision proved to be a poor one, as he delivered well in the competition, and richer clubs began to follow him.

Ultimately, he decided to move to Arsenal after the Gunners offered him a good contract and sold their project to him.

Calafiori is the latest member of a star-studded team after Arsenal confirmed his transfer and he joined the rest of the squad in the United States.

Arsenal seemed to shelve their plans for a new striker just to get this deal over the line, and some fans still wonder whether Arsenal does not need a goalscorer more than a defender.

However, for now, they have added a new defender to their group, and they now have one of the best defences in European football.

Arsenal tickets have been one of the highest-selling in Europe for some time, and the Gunners must brace themselves for even more sales in the coming season because they are an exciting team to follow.

Where can Calafiori play?

One of the questions Arsenal fans have been asking is what role will Calafiori play in their team this season.

Almost no one expected Arsenal to sign a defender this summer because they had the best defence in the Premier League last term.

At centre-back, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have formed a rock-solid partnership that makes it almost impossible to break down the Gunners.

Ben White has made the right-back spot his own and continues to show he is probably the best Englishman playing that role in the Premier League.

At left-back, Arsenal has not found a player to trust with the role permanently, but before Calafiori joined the group, they had Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber, Jakub Kiwior, and Takehiro Tomiyasu who can play there.

Kieran Tierney remains in their squad after returning from his loan spell at Real Sociedad last season.

Mikel Arteta’s revolution has been rebuilding Arsenal for some seasons now and they seem to have fixed all the defensive issues that have plagued them for several decades.

Adding Calafiori hands Mikel Arteta more options in defence, and the competition for game time will be even fiercer.

The Italian is left-footed, so he naturally becomes an automatic competition for Gabriel in the left-centre-back role.

The Brazilian was terrific alongside Saliba last season, even though he lost his place on the team at the start of the team.

He has to fight for his place on the team again, but Calafiori is a versatile defender who can also play as a left-back.

He played that role during his formative years at AS Roma before a coach changed his role at Basel.

His most impressive attribute is bringing the ball out of defence, which was clearly captured when he provided the assist that sent Italy to the knockout stage of Euro 2024.

Gabriel is not so skilled at this, which could affect his chance of beating Calafiori to the left centre-back role.

What are Arsenal’s centre-back options?

Arsenal now has arguably the best defensive option in the Premier League, with two of the defenders more or less coming in as new players this season.

They signed Timber from Ajax last season, but he was injured in his first Premier League game and missed most of the season.

He will return to show what he can do this term and is technically a new signing for the Gunners, who will strengthen them further.

Jakub Kiwior has been at the club since the start of 2023, but he did not enjoy a sustained run in the team until the second half of last season.

He proved his worth and delivered some fantastic performances in the team, which made it difficult for Arsenal to listen to offers for his signature.

Timber was on the radar of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool before moving to Arsenal and the jury is still out on his time in London after his injury last term.

Saliba is already being considered one of the world’s best defenders and he is one of the players who made Arsenal mature to win the Premier League last season, even though they failed to do so on the final day.

Gabriel has been Saliba’s trusted partner, and because he can also score goals from setpieces, he is a player who will be hard to bench.

Ben White can also play as a centre-back and filled in at that role when he was on the books of Brighton, so he can step in there if there is a a need for that.

Takehiro Tomiyasu has been used mostly as a right or left back since he moved to Arsenal, but the versatile Japanese star can also play in central defence.

Does Arsenal now have the best defence in the Premier League?

Before the arrival of Calafiori, there was little doubt that Arsenal now had the strongest defence in the Premier League. At least the stats prove this.

The Gunners conceded the fewest goals of any club in the top flight last season and will continue to deliver those top defensive performances this campaign.

The back-four of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jakub Kiwior was unbreakable and even Oleksandr Zinchenko could not get game time.

Their form was a major reason why the Premier League title race was decided after the final match of the season.

Arsenal had struggled with consistency at the back before the second half of the term, but when the campaign ended, they had found a formula for staying rock solid and not conceding many goals.

Adding Calafiori and Timber to their options confirms their place as the best defence in the league unless they regress this season.

The Italian was part of the Bologna side that conceded the third fewest goals in the Italian top flight last season, and he will bring the added security Arsenal needs to break the clean sheet record in the Premier League.

Conclusion

Signing Calafiori is one of the best decisions Arsenal has made recently and the defender will make them a much better team than they have been all along despite how well they have developed in recent seasons.