Mikel Arteta’s hopes of wrestling the Premier League title from Manchester City could lie in this summer’s squad additions.
The Spaniard has done everything in his power to turn Arsenal into legit title challengers, but pipping City to the title continues to evade him.
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Key to Arteta’s third attempt to dethrone former mentor Pep Guardiola could be the addition of one of Italy’s few shining stars in a somewhat disappointing Euro 2024 campaign.
Bologna centre-back Riccardo Calafiori drew widespread praise for his performances in Germany off the back of helping lead the unfancied Serie A side to a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Labelled as one of the top-performing centre-backs at Euro 2024, Calafiori had only mastered the position for 15 months prior to his heroics in Germany.
The defender who credits John Stones as the player his game resembles most, broke through the ranks at Roma before making the switch to Swiss giants FC Basel. It was there that Calafiori’s football career changed forever.
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The then left-back entered into a chat with Basel interim boss Heiko Vogel in March 2023, who advised him to adopt a central role.
"Ricky, do you want to maximise your career?" said Vogel.
Calafiori replied: "What do you mean coach?"
"I think you are playing the wrong position."
Vogel admits the transition was easy for the Italian who quickly displayed all the attributes needed to be a top central defender.
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"I felt he had a lack of speed as a full-back for reaching the highest level. Playing centre-back, he had more than enough," Vogel told Sky Sports
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"He didn't think about it for many seconds: let's work together. I put him from the full-back position into the centre and he did it well."
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His displays in Switzerland earned him a move back to Serie A with Bologna last summer with now former boss Thiago Motta continuing to deploy Calafiori as a centre-back.
Bologna’s superb campaign was typified by Calafiori who boasted the club’s best statistics for most interceptions, aerial duels won and incredibly, the defender with the most assists in Europe top-five leagues.
It’s easy to see why Arsenal are keen on the Italian but the north London outfit are likely to face competition from Chelsea and Juventus for his signature.
For now, the Gunners appear to be leading the race with a formal approach anticipated in the coming days.
And a move to Arsenal would be a good fit for Calafiori with Arteta’s men playing a brand of football suited to the Italian.
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"I like Arteta's style, everything is about possession. Ricky likes possession," Vogel added.
"If you want to build up the game and have possession, he's brilliant. If you followed the European Championships, his rushes into the midfield were breaking the opponents' lines.
"He has a very good heading game in defence or the offensive, he was very dangerous in front of goal from set pieces."
"He has everything," Vogel continued. "It shows that he's really intelligent.
"His game intelligence is very great, he can adapt to different systems, positions and coaches. He has everything to get to the highest level.
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"On one hand you have the possession game and he has everything with that, but also a full-back and a centre-back needs to be a good defender. He's aggressive, good at the defensive duels and one-versus-one situations.
"He is still improving, he's a young guy. He's had Thiago Motta and next season if it's Mikel Arteta, it would be good for his career."