Arsenal are allegedly willing to listen to summer bids for Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori just one year after his arrival at the club from Bologna.
The 22-year-old has shown flashes of what he is capable of since joining the Gunners in the summer of 2024, but injuries and the rise of Myles Lewis-Skelly have hampered his progress.
Calafiori’s most recent problem – a knee injury picked up during the March international break – is proving more tricky than first thought to overcome, and he will miss Saturday’s Premier League battle with Bournemouth.
There are also no guarantees that the former Bologna man will be fit for next week’s Champions League semi-final second leg with Paris Saint-Germain, but either way, Myles Lewis-Skelly will be expected to start against Les Parisiens.
The latter’s unexpected rise to fame has been Arsenal’s latest academy success story, and he has seemingly usurped Calafiori to become Mikel Arteta‘s first-choice left-back thanks to his fearless attitude and defensive intelligence.
Arsenal to accept £29.8m Calafiori bid?
As a result, Milan Live claims that Arsenal are already prepared to entertain offers for Calafiori in the summer transfer window, and the Italy international could make the move back to his homeland.
Despite spending €45m (£38.3m) to bring Calafiori to the club last year, the report claims that the Gunners are even willing to take a small financial hit and accept a sum of €35m (£29.8m) this time around.
Juventus tried and failed to lure the 22-year-old to Turin last summer before his move to Arsenal was confirmed, but the Bianconeri could apparently now try again for his signature thanks to Arsenal’s stance.
In addition, AC Milan are said to have shown an interest in signing Calafiori, who has produced three goals and two assists from 26 games in an Arsenal shirt across all competitions.
However, the versatile defender has now suffered five separate injuries since making the move to North London, including three knee-related issues as well as muscular and calf problems.
How Calafiori could be part of shock swap deal
Whether Milan can afford to pay close to £30m for Calafiori is another question entirely, but the same outlet suggests that the Rossoneri could throw in one of their own defenders to sweeten the deal.
In fact, Arsenal are allegedly interested in signing two of Milan’s current centre-backs in Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori, the former of whom has also garnered interest from German giants Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.
However, Milan could snub advances from the Bundesliga duo if there is a shock swap deal there to be done with Arsenal involving Thiaw and Calafiori, but letting the latter go makes no sense from Arsenal’s point of view.
The Italian might have a worrying injury record, but he has excelled in an attacking sense when fully fit and will be needed next season given that both Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko should depart.
Furthermore, Calafiori’s versatility will come in handy if Jakub Kiwior leaves, as he could fill in centrally for Gabriel Magalhaes when needed, so for Arsenal to let him go this summer would be the shock of all shocks.
