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Arsenal have had to stay patient when it comes to their move for Riccardo Calafiori. But that is something they have shown they are willing to be when it comes to landing players they really want.
You just have to look at when they signed Martin Odegaard on a permanent basis from Real Madrid in 2021 as a prime example of that.
They were made to wait all summer by Madrid and could easily have grown frustrated and moved on to other targets. But they were happy to play the waiting game because Mikel Arteta and Edu were convinced Odegaard was a player who could take the team to the next level and they have been rewarded for that patience.
They have not had to wait as long for Calafiori as they did for Odegaard and I don’t think they were ever worried that the deal would not get done. It feels like talks with Bologna have gone relatively well. It’s the massive sell-on fee that Basel will be due for the deal that has made things a bit tricky.
Ideally, Arteta would have wanted to have this one done in time for Calafiori to travel out with the squad for the start of the USA tour. That hasn’t proved to be possible, but the signs are that the deal could be finalised by the end of the week and should that happen, then Arsenal will certainly fly the Italian out to the States to link up with his new team-mates.
Even if he is deemed not ready to play, Arteta will want him out there. He is very big on having new arrivals included for a pre-season tour as he believes that is the perfect environment for them to get to know their new team-mates ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
I think it’s a really exciting signing for Arsenal. Left-back was one of two positions in the team last season where there was no real consistency. Arteta was having to mix and match throughout the season, with the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakob Kiwior all filling in there.
All of them have their qualities, but when you look at Calafiori and where his strengths are, he looks like a really smart signing. He has the qualities to invert into midfield from left-back thanks to how comfortable he is with the ball when he drives forward. But if Arteta wants to use Ben White as his inverted full-back on the right, then Calafiori can just move more centrally and make up a three with Gabriel and William Saliba.
Arsenal were so strong defensively last season and you have to think the addition of the 22-year-old is only going to make them even better at the back. That’s a pretty scary scenario for the rest of the Premier League.
The addition of Tommy Setford is an interesting one. I have to admit, it’s one that came a bit out of the blue for me, I hadn’t heard anything about their interest until this summer.
But this was always going to be the summer which was going to feature a big shake-up in the goalkeeper department at Arsenal, both at first-team level and in the academy.
In the academy there has been a host of departures when it comes to goalkeepers, with Arsenal allowing several to leave. So they needed to replace them with quality and they identified Setford as an exciting talent they believe they can develop into a top young goalkeeper.
He has been brought in to be first choice for the U21s this season, but he will also work with David Raya and the senior keepers on a regular basis at London Colney during the week as the club looks to fast track his development.
It’s a bit of a waiting game when it comes to Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe at the moment. You can add Reiss Nelson on to that list as well.
They are all players who could leave Arsenal this summer. There has been a bid from Fulham for Smith Rowe, but that has been rejected. A second bid is expected, but Crystal Palace are also expected to make an offer soon having made their interest in the playmaker known.
In an ideal world, Mikel Arteta would keep Smith Rowe. This time last year he made it clear that he would not be sold and I think his stance would be the same this time around if it was just down to a footballing decision. But Smith Rowe now has just two years left on his contract and has a strong desire to be playing regular football having sat on the bench for much of the last two seasons.
So Arsenal would reluctantly let him leave should a good offer arrive from Fulham, Palace or anyone else. But at the moment that offer has not arrived and that is why Smith Rowe has flown with the squad to the United States. It’s certainly not a case that Arsenal will be forcing him out of the door.
It’s a similar situation for Nketiah. Marseille’s interest is interesting. It would be a bold and exciting move for Nketiah to make. But for Arsenal to let him go, then Marseille would have to commit to stumping up some serious cash. Whether they can hit the type of number that Arsenal are holding out for is up for debate.
I don’t believe a bid has arrived yet from the French club. The interest is there, but as far as I’ve been told it hasn’t materialised into anything concrete yet.
Nicolas Pepe’s comments were pretty eye opening. They certainly shone a light on the type of pressure and scrutiny that top players have to deal with.
It was hard not to feel sorry for him when you heard what he had to say. I do think some of the criticism he got was harsh. I said it at the time, he may not have been able to live up to his lofty price tag, but It was laughable for some to describe him as the biggest flop in Premier League history, because there is no way that was true.
Was he a £72m player? No, and it didn’t take long to work that out after he arrived. But he was still a good player and he showed that during his first two seasons at the club.
Pepe did some decent things at Arsenal and was very influential in them winning the FA Cup in 2020. It wasn’t his fault that he cost £72m.
I can’t say that I know what or who he was talking about when he said that certain people in the club didn’t help him amid all the criticism. In terms of what went wrong for him at Arsenal, the team just very quickly outgrew him as Mikel Arteta’s overhaul took shape.
Pepe just didn’t have the attributes needed to be a success under Arteta. For all his talents going forward, he was pretty one dimensional and his defensive side of the game just wasn’t good enough to live up to Arteta’s demands.
It’s a real shame to see him without a club now. He’s only 29 and should still be playing. Hopefully he can find somewhere soon and can enjoy a decent end to his career.
