Bologna make Riccardo Calafiori pre-season decision amid Arsenal rumours

Riccardo Calafiori has been left out of Bologna's pre-season training camp as his prospective transfer to Arsenal gathers pace.

Calafiori was one of the Serie A side's star performers last season as they shocked the rest of Italy and qualified for the Champions League under former manager Thiago Motta.

Motta has since left the club to take charge of Juventus, while forward Joshua Zirkzee has also departed for Manchester United for a fee believed to be slightly more than his £34m release clause.

Calafiori, who impressed for Italy during their brief run at Euro 2024, is now thought to be closing in on a move to the Premier League and was left off new boss Vincenzo Italiano's squad for Bologna's pre-season training camp in Rio Pusteria.

The omission goes against what was previously reported over Calafiori's expected last days at the club. It was claimed last week the 22-year-old had been asked to attend their training camp ahead of Bologna's summer friendlies, with clashes against SV Brixen, Caldiero Terme, Asteras Tripolis and Mallorca coming up over the next few weeks.

It has also emerged that Arsenal's bid to sign the defender had been complicated by a legal dispute between two of his previous teams, Basel and Roma.

Arsenal are believed to have agreed a guaranteed fee of €40m (£33.7m) with a further €5m in add-ons and a sell-on clause.

Calafiori primarily played at centre-back last season but his versatility is likely to be to Gunners manager Mikel Arteta's liking should the deal go through. The north London giants already have an established partnership consisting of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, but Calafiori can also play at left-back, where the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu all featured during the 2023/24 campaign.

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