Arsenal fans couldn’t help but notice how Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior reacted to Riccardo Calafiori’s arrival at the club.
Arsenal signed Calafiori from Bologna this week in a deal worth an initial £38million following a spectacular season where he helped lead the Serie A outfit to fifth in the league.
The Italy international can play left-back, centre-back and defensive midfield – much like two other players manager Mikel Arteta already has in the squad.
Timber and Kiwior both play left-back and centre-back but had difficult campaigns last season.
Timber spent most of the year injured after suffering an torn ACL on his debut while Kiwior struggled for game-time ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Arteta introduced Calafiori, who has been likened to Sergio Ramos, in a heart-warming video that was released on Arsenal’s YouTube channel where the defender stands up and is applauded by his new teammates.
But Arsenal fans noticed his rivals for game time, particularly Dutchman Timber who warmly clapped his hands before darting a glance at the new recruit.
Kiwior, meanwhile, beamed a smile as he entered the room and high-fived a coach as one fan wrote: “Does he know?”
Speaking on Timber, one fan wrote: “Look at Timber.”
Another replied: “Thought I was the only one who saw it, he knows, competition just gets stiffer.”
Arsenal now have several options in defence, which was the best in the Premier League last season and conceded just 29 times.
Arteta largely stuck with the same back four when available with David Raya taking Aaron Ramsdale’s position in goal but Calafiori could become the new first-choice left-back ahead of Zinchenko.
7
7
7
It means that every player has a back-up with Takehiro Tomiyasu behind Ben White at right-back, Timber behind William Saliba and Kiwior behind Gabriel Magalhaes.
And as the Gunners plot a way to overthrow Manchester City at the top of the table, Arteta will need all the help he can get.
Calafiori could be the answer after Zinchenko came under fire at times throughout the season while the 22-year-old made a short speech during his first meeting with the squad.
He said: “Of course, I am really happy to be here. I waited a lot. I hope we are going to do something great this year. Just this, thank you.”
After the meeting had concluded, Arteta gave Calafiori a big hug as the full-back said: “Is this real?”
Arteta replied: “It is real, it is real.”
Arsenal’s move for Calafiori was held up by Bologna after a dispute with his former club Basel over the sell-on fee and Arteta admitted he was left frustrated.
7
7
He said: “I’m very happy. It took a while – it was a player that we have monitored for a year.
“We were really short in the backline last year in terms of numbers and we demanded so much from them. William Saliba, for example, played in every minute of the Premier League and we believe we had to be more protected.
“We identified him as a talent that can give us skill and qualities that are going to make us better. We are signing a player with a huge capacity to develop.”
Arsenal are next in action on Wednesday night against Liverpool in a pre-season friendly at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Whether Calafiori will take part remains to be seen but Arteta might give fans a little look at their latest signing.
Mikel Arteta on Riccardo Calafiori
Arteta: “I am very happy that we’ve got Riccardo done. As I said, it was very important to have that protection in the backline because of the issues that we had, especially last year when Jurrien was injured.
“It increases the quality and the competition and it’s very good for the team.
“It was the numbers. We only had six defenders in the backline and at this level you have to be really lucky to sustain the season like this.
“We were, because William for example and Gabriel nearly played every minute, we played more than 50 per cent more minutes than the previous season and if we are able to do that consistently over the next three or four years that’s a big question mark.
“Obviously you cannot just bet on that, that’s a big bet and we don’t want to take that bet.
“[He can play] both [left-back and centre-back], especially the way we want to play and the way we want to evolve in our game models.
“He is a player who is going to fit into what we want.
“I spoke to him one or two times and I knew the other things [teams being interested].
“I wasn’t really sure if we could do it or not, but he was adamant: ‘let me know when you’re ready, my bags are ready and I just want to come to Arsenal’.
“Those were his words and when you have that feeling, someone with that willingness to join us and make us better and that determination, it’s something really powerful and as a club, we should be really proud of that.”
