Arsenal are now said to be in pole position to sign a defender who is attracting interest from a host of Premier League clubs this summer.
Mikel Arteta has reportedly asked Edu and his recruitment team to find a versatile left-footed option who can play centrally or on the left.
Essentially, Arsenal want a Jakub Kiwior upgrade.
But any new signing won’t necessarily replace the Polish international, Arsenal want to keep Kiwior.
Instead, a new arrival would likely fill the void left by Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko – who are both free to leave Arsenal.
Given the nature of how Arteta uses the left side of his defence, with the incumbent inverting into midfield, Arsenal can cope without a traditional left-back who often looks to overlap.
Barring Kyle Walker, Pep Guardiola doesn’t have too many natural full-backs in his squad, explaining the evolution Arsenal are moving towards.
That being said, Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori proved himself as one of the most exciting and versatile defenders on the continent at Euro 2024.
Arsenal are favourites to sign left-footed Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori
Given his performances for Italy, Arsenal are interested in signing the 22-year-old who will cost around £40m this summer.
And via Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Arsenal are reportedly now leading the race for the defender, who is considered ‘one of the best in the world’.
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In his report, Di Marzio confirmed that ‘several’ teams outside of Italy have now expressed their interest in Calafiori, but Arsenal’s advances are ‘most concrete’.
And to that end, Bologna’s technical director, Giovanni Sartori, has recently confessed that Calafiori is unlikely to go to Serie A giants Juventus, who have also been linked.
Sartori instead thought that his defender, who he does want to keep, is likely to head abroad.
He said: “We will try to keep Calafiori but if important offers arrive we will have to take them into consideration.
“I don’t think he will go to Juventus, he will probably go to a different market”.
Therefore, it seems as if Arsenal are making significant progress in attempting to deliver a player who fits the brief for one of Arteta’s key requests this summer.
Perhaps Adrien Rabiot, who is considering his future after his Juventus contract expired, would be a smart midfield addition for Arsenal.
And in terms of finding a wide-forward, it’s still impossible to look past Spain star Nico Williams.