How does Riccardo Calafiori compare to Arsenal's current defenders?

The 22-year-old - who played a major role in the Rossoblu's shock qualification for the Champions League last season - was initially thought to have been on the way to Juventus, where former Bologna boss Thiago Motta is now in control of the reins.

However, as the Bianconeri prioritised midfield reinforcements, Arsenal moved quickly to reach an agreement with Bologna, who will reportedly receive an initial €40m (£33.7m) plus €5m (£4.2m) in add-ons.

A sell-on clause quarrel between Bologna and Calafiori's former club Basel is believed to be holding the deal up, but the expectation is that the Italy international will soon be announced as Mikel Arteta's latest recruit.

Capable of playing as both a centre-back and left-back, Calafiori mostly featured in the former position last season, in addition to starting three of Italy's Euro 2024 games in the heart of defence.

Using data from FBref for the 2023-24 domestic campaign, Sports Mole takes a look at how Calafiori compares to Arsenal's current centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, hailed as one of the best partnerships on the planet.

Defensive actions

A bit of background first. Having only joined Bologna in the last knockings of the 2023 summer transfer window, Calafiori played three times for Basel at the start of last term before turning out 33 times for the Rossoblu, making all of those appearances in the top flight.

Meanwhile, Saliba did not miss any of Arsenal's Premier League season - starting 38 games out of 38 and being one of only two outfield players, alongside Max Kilman, to play every minute - while Gabriel played 36 top-flight matches, starting 34.

The trio rank pretty evenly when it comes to tackles made, but Gabriel - who is never afraid to get stuck in if the ball is there to be won - just edges it with 48, one more than Calafiori and seven more than his partner Saliba.

However, when it comes to tackles won, Calafiori is the outright leader. The Italian succeeded with 37 of his 47 attempts (78.7%), while Saliba won 26 of 41 (63.4%) and Gabriel 28 of 48 (58.3%). While the Bologna man and Saliba made a much higher amount of tackles in the defensive third, a good chunk of Gabriel's (22) were in the middle third.

Calafiori also attempted to tackle more dribblers than Saliba and Gabriel, but his success rate of 68.8% is the worst out of the three. Saliba ranks second on that list with 74.1%, while Gabriel won a remarkable 17 of his 22 challenges against dribblers for 77.3%.

The Brazilian-themed dominance in this category continues with his unrivalled 44 blocks - Calafiori boasted 38 and Saliba 32 - but the Italy international made far more interceptions with 56 for both clubs. Fifty of those came in a Bologna shirt, the joint fifth-most in Serie A.

Calafiori's aerial win rate of 71.4% also trumps Saliba and Gabriel - neither of whom even hit the 60% mark - but the Italian and the Frenchman were both guilty of three errors leading to a shot. In contrast, Gabriel - whose concentration has come on leaps and bounds - registered just one such mistake.

Passing

Few centre-backs can match up to Saliba's mastery on the ball, as the former Saint-Etienne man completed an astounding 2,635 passes in the 2023-24 Premier League season and registered a success rate of 92.4%, the seventh-best out of all players in the division.

In contrast, Calafiori was slightly lower at 89.6%, while Gabriel takes third place with 88.7%, although the former actually tops the three-man charts when it comes to long passes completed, finding a teammate 71.5% of the time with balls travelling 30 yards or more.

Whether he is manning the heart of defence or bombing down the left-hand side, look for Calafiori to spray diagonal passes across the pitch, having completed 16 switches last season. Together, Saliba and Gabriel did not manage half of that tally (six combined).

Calafiori's arrival should therefore give the Gunners a new passing dimension out from the back, and the 22-year-old only played one ball offside throughout the entire domestic campaign - Saliba had two and Gabriel five.

Calafiori also ranks first for key passes (chances created) with 17, while Saliba managed six and Gabriel three, but interestingly, the Italian is significantly down when it comes to progressing the ball up the field.

Indeed, Calafiori made just 94 passes into the final third - Saliba registered 175 and Gabriel 143 - in addition to 96 progressive passes. Again, his soon-to-be French teammate is at the top of that list with 157.

Attacking

Perhaps the most important goal contribution in the last 12 months of Calafiori's career was his assist for Mattia Zaccagni in Italy's dramatic 1-1 draw with Croatia at Euro 2024, which ensured the Azzurri's place in the knockouts before they ceded their crown with a whimper.

During his first and what is expected to be only season in the Bologna strip, Calafiori had a direct hand in seven Serie A goals - two of his own and five assists - seeing him trump both Gabriel and Saliba for combined contributions.

Arsenal's Brazilian powerhouse - a perpetual threat from set-pieces - actually came up with four strikes in the Premier League, but zero assists, while Saliba notched two goals of his own and set up one more.

Gabriel's penalty-box potency also means that he sits at the summit for shots attempted last season with 31, while Calafiori fired 20 efforts and Saliba 10, although the Italian pulled the trigger from the furthest distance on average, just shy of 18 yards. That may go some way to explaining while only six of his 20 shots were on target.

Calafiori's higher assist tally also means that the 22-year-old is the leader when it comes to shot-creating actions (46) and goal-creating actions (eight), and the Bologna man also attempted more take-ons than the Arsenal pair with 21.

Calafiori triumphed in 13 of those take-on attempts for a respectable success rate of 61.9%, although the ever-composed Saliba ranks first in that category, successfully breezing past an opponent 10 times out of 15.

Miscellaneous stats (fouls/cards)

Neither Saliba, Gabriel nor Calafiori picked up a red card in league action last season, although the latter was sent off for two bookable offences in a Europa Conference League qualifier while still on the books at Basel, a few weeks before jumping ship to Serie A.

When it comes to warnings, there is eerily nothing to separate the defensive trio whatsoever, as they were all booked four times throughout the domestic campaign, thereby not missing a single match through suspension.

However, Calafiori committed more fouls than the Gunners pair with 39 - Gabriel was just behind with 35, while Saliba only felled an opponent 22 times - and the Italian also conceded two penalties in 2023-24 and scored one own goal.

Calafiori managed to draw 31 fouls of his own, slightly below Gabriel's 34 and way above Saliba's 16, while also recovering 194 loose balls, second to the Frenchman's 213 and significantly above Gabriel's 136.

While it remains to be seen whether Calafiori competes for central minutes or becomes Arteta's new first-choice left-back, the 6ft 2in man is evidently a defender suited to the modern game, and one who should not shy away from attacking responsibilities.