Mikel Arteta says he expects new signing Riccardo Calafiori to play both centre-back and left-back at Arsenal after his transfer from Bologna was confirmed.
The Italy international has been snapped up by the Gunners on a long-term deal, adding strength in depth to what was the Premier League’s most stringent defence last season.
Calafiori has joined up with his new squad ahead of their pre-season friendly against English rivals Liverpool and, speaking before that clash, Arteta revealed his delight in getting the deal over the line.
The Spaniard said: “Yes, very happy. It took a while. He is a player that we have monitored for about a year. We were really short in the backline last season in terms of numbers. We demanded so much from them. Wily [Saliba] for example played every minute of the Premier League and we believe that we have to make them much more protected. We identified him as a top player, a talent who has the skills and qualities that are going to make us better. He is still a player with a huge capacity to develop.
“Both positions especially and the way we want to play and the things we want to evolve. In our game model he is a player who is going to fit really well for what we want.
“Yes, I am very happy that we got Riccardo done. As I said, I think it was very important to have reinforcement in the back line, with the issues we had last year especially once Jurrien [Timber] was injured. It increases the competition, increases the quality and very good news for the team.”
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Arteta added that more options at the back will prevent Arsenal stars like Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba burning out in future seasons.
He revealed: “Especially the numbers. We ended up with six defenders in the backline. At this level you have to be really lucky to sustain a season like this.
“We were lucky because Willy and Gabi could play every minute, they played more than 50% more minutes than the previous season. Whether they can sustain that for three or four years is a big question mark. At this level you can’t just bet on that. That’s a big bet, and we didn’t want to take it.”
Arsenal head into the Liverpool having recently downed Manchester United 2-1 thanks to goals from Gabriel and namesake Martinelli.
