Riccardo Calafiori says he’s able to play in as many alternative positions as possible to assist Arsenal’s cause and would ‘love’ to learn how you can be a midfielder.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a promising begin to life in English football on the back of a £42million move from Serie A outfit Bologna to Arsenal ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
While injury problems have somewhat hampered his progress in recent months, Calafiori has made 26 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners, while chipping in with three goals.
Calafiori is maybe unlucky that his debut season has coincided with the extraordinary rise of Hale End academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly, who had made the left-back berth his own this term.
The Italy international is, though, helped by his versatility, which was a key consider Arsenal’s pursuit last summer, and has shown a willingness to fill in at centre-back for Mikel Arteta.
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Calafiori’s playing style and tendency to push forward to turn out to be a further midfielder appears well suited to Arsenal given Arteta’s affection for inverted full-backs.
Nevertheless, talking to Rivista Undici magazine, Calafiori revealed his desire to go one step further and learn how you can play as an out-and-out midfielder should the chance arise.
‘There are numerous things that I still don’t know how you can do,’ he said.
‘I need to continue learning to play in as many alternative roles as possible.
‘For now, I do know how you can play two roles, but have all the time been enthusiastic about midfielders and would like to learn how you can play there.’
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Calafiori has been shocked by Arteta’s meticulous nature since his arrival in north London and counts the Spaniard amongst his most influential coaches.
‘Thiago Motta first, then Luciano Spalletti and Mikel Arteta all modified me, when it comes to my vision, the spaces to occupy, every little thing,’ he added.
‘I feel that there are numerous defenders with my characteristics on the market, who’re probably even higher than me.
‘But I do a variety of work off the sphere and maybe that makes the difference.’
Calafiori views Italy’s 1-0 defeat to Spain at Euro 2024 as a turning point in his profession, despite his Fifty fifth-minute own goal proving decisive within the group-stage contest.
‘That’s the game I hold dearest in my heart and the one I’ll always remember,’ he explained.
‘It’ll all the time be one in all my best satisfactions, the best way I used to be in a position to react after that own goal. I feel I played even higher than I had before.
‘That was just like the apex of a journey that had began some time back. The Riccardo of seven or eight months earlier will surely not have reacted like that.’
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