Arsenal's Future with Calafiori: What to Expect from the Young Talent

It's been a long time coming, but Arsenal have finally announced the signing of Ricardo Calafori. On behalf of every Arsenal fan and everybody connected to the club, welcome to Arsenal Football Club. Welcome to the Premier League Ministry of Defence. I think I speak for every Arsenal fan when I say we're eating very good to have Saliba, Timba, Tomiyasu, Gabriel White, and on top of that, adding Calafori to the mix. This is the greed they talk about in religious books. Now, I don't want to spread blasphemy, but it sounds like greed is a good thing. We've got a great collective bunch of defenders on top of a great defensive ethos as a football club from front to back, and we're laughing. We've got one of the best defensive duos in the Premier League and world football. You could argue we've got one of the best defensive depths in world football as well, and they're all in their early to mid-20s and they all could get better and are all growing people. The signing of Calafori is great. We all know Italy is described as the utopia of defenders. We all know the historical defensive figures. Now, Calafori has a long way to go before he can be mentioned around certain players, but to know we've got a somewhat generational Italian defensive talent, someone that the legends of the game based in Italy speak highly of, we've got him at 22 years of age coming into a great defensive side. Obviously, he's a good player, but Mikel Arteta knows that I can make him great. It's amazing, and one thing I also like about him, there'd be a problem if the following thing I'm about to say wasn't the case, but Mikel Arteta has described him as a player with a big personality and character. If we're trying to be a title-winning side, it goes without saying that that's needed. He's also repeatedly mentioned specific skills. Now, we all know that probably ties into the inverted left-back role and his ability to do such people, and I like him a lot. We'll get onto it and have a deeper look at it later on in this video, but he's described himself as modelling his game on John Stones. Considering John Stones has played centre-half, full-back and in central midfield, and Califori seems like he's very intelligent and able to do what a manager demands, that gives me a lot of hope. We all know his excellent performances at the Euros probably did not spark Arsenal's interest, but they merely served as further confirmation that this was a player with the mentality, versatility and quality to thrive for Arsenal as we look to make progress. It seems that Mikel Arteta, beyond the obvious, fell in love with Califori's combination of defensive intelligence, courage on the ball, intelligence in general and his technical ability, people. Many people would sit there and say, why would we sign a left-back? We already have Kivio, who's able to play there, Zinchenko, who sparks a lot of debate, able to play there, as well as Timber and Tommy. Now, naturally, when you break it down, there was a lot of turnover on that left-hand side for Arsenal Football Club. We've had a lot of different partners for Declan Rice. Tommy Assu was the first choice left-back towards the end of the season. Midway through the season, Kivio got his opportunity. Zinchenko was there. Whether it's injuries or not being solid in all assets or facets of the game, none of these options seem to be the long-term first choice, not to downplay anybody. I don't think people can be surprised we signed the left-back. The more credible journalists, the Athletic, the Romanos of this world have been saying since the early summer months that we are looking for a left-back people. So it doesn't surprise me. Again, just because we've obviously had good options and had a good sort of season in defence doesn't mean we can't always improve. We cannot rest on our laurels. We can't afford complacency in any aspect of our team. We have not won those trophies. I do think with California's addition, obviously he's a good player with the scope to get better. It was a market opportunity because for all the hype, we all know he helped Bologna get Champions League football in his first and only season there. He further enhanced his reputation in the Euros. Naturally, there's going to be a lot of teams interested in him. For someone that's 22 years of age to sign him for 40 to 50 million euros, I won't go as far as to say it's a steal, but I think it's a steal and a great part of business if I'm completely honest with you guys, people. And then when you look at some of the metrics you would have seen on screen, people, you can see what California brings to the table beyond the obvious and why Mikel Arteta would be keen to bring him in. With him included, 18 of Arsenal's 24 first-team signings under Mikel Arteta have either been defensive midfielders, defenders or goalkeepers, and the fee in total has been £488 million. Mikel Arteta, I'm not against it, but can we get some central midfielders in, maybe a striker and an inside forward? And I think I speak for every Arsenal fan generally when I say, forgive me for disrespecting somewhat these players, but the Rob Holdings, the Callum Chambers, the Pablo Maurice, the Sokratis, the Kalashnikovs, that's the Cedrics, the Bellerins, the Mustafis. To look at what we had then, and as I said earlier, and you lot could see with your own eyes what we've got in the team now, the sun is starting to shine on this football club, people, if I'm honest. Going back to the total fees, as I said, £488 million. It's more than twice as much that we have spent on attacking midfielders and forwards, which we've only signed six. At around £42-odd people, California becomes our sixth most expensive signing of Mikel Arteta's time, ensuring that of the top five people, seven apologies, five are defensive players, led by, obviously, Declan Rice. Well, then in terms of big fees, you only have Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. I like him a lot. He's versatile. Evidently, everything he does on the footballing pitch, you can see why. He's described as being a strong character and personality. He's been nicknamed the bulldozer. Where you look at Thiago Motta and Mikel Arteta, who have crossed paths in their playing careers, they're very different managers, but they're quite similar. Motta worked with Kivio at Spezia. Obviously, he's worked with California. So, if you can work under that system, beyond Mikel Arteta doing his own due diligence and whatnot, you can see why it would work. And to have a defender called the bulldozer, to have an Italian defender, how often do these sort of talents leave Italy? They end up at the Juventus, the Aces, the Inters, and Juventus and so on and so forth, so it's nice to see we've signed him. A couple of just general thoughts for me, I think, as I said earlier, I think number one, we cannot rest on our laurels. Many will point to the fact we had one of the best defensive records last season and rightly so, but why not attempt to improve the depth and improve upon that, really? And have the luxury that, God forbid, if anything happens to Gabriel or other left-back options, we've got California. Likewise, anything happens to California, we've got strength in depth. On the right-hand side, if anything happens to Benjamin White and Saliba in issues, but with our collective options, there's a bit of options that we can deploy. Naturally, we've got different full-backs you can complement in different ways, not only indirectly their full-backs on the other side in terms of build-up play, but how and what they do specifically to their skillset under the framework of what Mikel Arteta demands of them going into midfield and also the link-up play. I'm keen to see Timber on that left-hand side. I'm actually keen to see Timber right-back at times with Bakayo Saka. Obviously, Benjamin White's a big, big player. You've got California and you've got many great defensive options at full-back. I don't expect to see too much turnover and change at centre-half, but you get the point where I'm going with that. As I was saying, I think it's a market opportunity as well. 22 years of age, stock is rising, 40 to 50-odd million euros. It makes sense to bring him in. Also, kind of tying into what I said, let's be honest. Defensively, Zinchenko is shaky. Unfortunately, Tomiasu cannot stay fit for a whole season. Let's be brutally honest, Kiviel does not convince that left-back and I don't see him getting significant opportunities at centre-half. T in his days are numbered. Obviously, the injury might mean he has to stay at the football club. So, I do think California gives us a solid option in theory that we could have stability at left-back and indirectly on the left-hand side. Many people will point to his injury record and I do think it's overstated, but it is something to worry about. Hopefully, that's not an issue in that regards, people. Again, the Athletic did say he was interested in a left-sided defender in December of 2023. So, in July of 2024, as I'm saying, it's not surprising for me. And it brings me back to a quote or something, not even a quote. I remember when Manchester City won the treble, I believe in the 22-23 campaign. Forgive me if I'm wrong. Pep Guardiola went out and spoke of having proper defenders as full-backs to win their draws. Now, Kiviel is a proper defender, but he's not able to do that at left-back. Tomi Asu is able to do that, but he cannot stay fit. Zinchenko, defensively, shambolic, if we're completely honest. California is an upgrade on Kiviel. He provides proper opportunities for rotation at left and right-back. And he's a proper defender, skilled and strong one-v-one. He's very combative. He's very proactive. He's shown in the season he can play as a centre-half. His career statistics point towards him being a left-back. He's got a success rate of 63% with Bologna, which was higher than any Arsenal defender. Now, that's probably because Bologna had to do more defending. Nonetheless, it's obviously a good statistic. He was very dominant in the year. He won 71% of his aerial draws, which ranks around the fifth-highest success rate in Serie A, which again puts him above any Arsenal player. Once again, we had to do less defending probably than Bologna. So, some of the stats are probably pointed into that regards, people. We all know he excels driving forward, which he's shown for Bologna and Italy. He had a total of five assists last season, which was the most by a centre-back in Europe's major leagues, people. He also ranked top among his peers for shot generated following a carry with 14. So, that shows how he can progress, play up to the opposition's defence in his own way. He was sixth in Serie A for interceptions. He registered 50 despite missing eight games. In contrast, he made just 32 tackles. So, that, you know, he's not going to tackle for the sake of it. You know, that tells me his positioning and his maturity and guiding defensive scenarios is very good, people. We all know he was very lopsided on the left-hand side. So, for me, that would be very good at addressing and indirectly, maybe that will put a spark back in Martinelli's play or even get the best out, get even more out of Trossach, people. You know, again, when he compares himself to John Stones, that tells me he's an intelligent, multifunctional footballer and at 22 years of age, he's in the perfect place for long-term development, in my opinion. Mikel Arteta has shown he can improve defenders, he can improve young players. I know people will say something about Haaland, but those that have a certain level of foundation, it makes sense, people, really and truly. And I'm convinced because you look at many of our defensive recruits, essentially not everybody was convinced on someone like Benjamin White and it worked, if I'm honest with you. And indirectly, this might pay for itself when you consider the impending departure of Emile Smith-Rowe, which I'm ecstatic about, man. California played 30 Serie A games last season. Arsenal have done their homework and obviously had a thorough medical and believe that California's injuries are somewhat behind him. There were also rumours that we were interested in Hinkopee and Joel Hatto. They were also considered in relation to California. So this shows you that this is a key area for Mikel Arteta to address people. For more stuff in relation to any concerns I have about California or more in-depth tactical analysis, I'd implore you to check out the videos on screen at this moment in time. Again, welcome, California. I'm happy with it. Now this means we can switch our attention to continuing the outgoings and also probably central midfield. Reports have aggressively linked us with Mikel Moreno. I think everybody hopes for an inside forward. Nico Williams would be amazing, whether we're able to do that's another thing. And we are linked with Jocorez, but I would probably describe a striker as a pipe dream at this moment in time. So welcome, California. Nice to have you in with your teammates. Look forward to seeing him do his thing. Let me know your thoughts. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. I'm happy, especially with him saying, you know, he models his game on John Stones, which again, Mikel Arteta knows perfect about that. Again, smash the like button, comment and subscribe. Let me know your thoughts. Do you think California was needed? Don't you think he's needed? Who do you think is the first choice left back? But on that note, you stay safe, stay blessed. Peace.