“I spoke to him before Enzo Maresca” – Mikel Arteta reveals how he hijack £40m Enzo Maresca deal
Riccardo Calafiori, who made an impression for Bologna last season and helped the Serie A team qualify for the Champions League for the first time, was linked to both Chelsea and Arsenal.
Calafiori was ultimately acquired by Arsenal, who paid more than £40 million to bring the 22-year-old to the Emirates Stadium.
However, Calafiori’s manager at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, has made fun of Chelsea’s desire, saying that Calafiori has always wanted to work for Arsenal.
“I spoke to him one or two times and I knew the other things [teams being interested],” Arteta said after Calafiori signed for Arsenal.
“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.
“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.”