Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has impressed this season, making the left-back shirt his own so far, ahead of his teammates.
It comes off the back of a difficult first campaign at the Emirates Stadium, where injuries were a common occurrence.
That hasn’t been the case in the early months of this season, however, with Riccardo Calafiori’s place in the team coinciding with Arsenal putting together some fine form.
Mikel Arteta’s decisions with his full-backs have recently received plenty of praise, with it being an important part of how the Gunners play.
Those performances, plus regular game time, have all come together to prove the Arsenal boss was right about wanting to sign the Italian international.
Mikel Arteta had to battle to sign Riccardo Calafiori after injury concerns
Arsenal’s push to sign Riccardo Calafiori in 2024 came after some impressive performances for both Bologna and Italy in the European Championships.
The defender is a different kind of left-back from those that Mikel Arteta has usually utilised, with his free-roaming nature offering a way to open up the opposition.
There was criticism over the signing of Calafiori, with questions arising over his fitness in particular.
Several issues kept the Italian international out of action, but now, the move is clearly starting to pay off.
When the deal was ongoing, The Athletic reported on Arsenal’s interest in Calafiori, with David Ornstein claiming Arteta had to convince the Arsenal hierarchy to sign the defender and to look past any historic injury concerns.
While those initial worries were proven right, the faith placed in the manager to make the right decision has now paid off.
Calafiori is one of the first names on the team sheet each week and is part of the reason that Arsenal have been so impressive.
Some of those injury concerns that the defender faced appeared to be freak issues too, with his return to fitness helping prove he isn’t quite as injury-prone as many first thought.
Riccardo Calafiori’s poor injury luck impacted Arsenal last season
Arsenal’s injury issues last season felt excessive, but Arteta rarely bemoaned the situation that he was faced with.
That’s not to say there were no clear problems there, some of which could have been solved with a deeper squad and more rotation.
However, there was clearly an element of bad luck involved in there as well, and Calafiori knows that more than most.
Plenty of issues the defender faced surrounded how he landed from challenges, with his knee twisting unconventionally in a few instances.
None were more unfortunate than one he suffered against France while playing for Italy, where a challenge elsewhere saw a player fly into the back of him.
Now that he has avoided such issues, the defender has been fit and available, and it’s no surprise to see him back to his very best.
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