Mikel Arteta has yet to receive a start for Arsenal, and Riccardo Calafiori sent him a strong message regarding his playing time. Arteta is valued at £42 million ($56 million).
During the September international break, the Italian international suffered an unusual injury against France that prevented him from playing in the Azzurri’s match against Israel. Calafiori is vying for a start with the Gunners after leaving the national team camp early to travel to London for medical testing. He has recovered well from his injury.
Arteta gradually introduced Calafiori back into the game during the midweek Champions League matchup with Atalanta. His versatility again came to the forefront as the natural wing-back was acting as an inverted full-back, cutting inside from the wide areas, to provide more depth and choices to the manager.
Calafiori feels he is ready for the demands of the Premier League and ought to start, despite not being risked in the North London derby against Tottenham. It’s a big task, but I was aware of that before I arrived, and I’m glad to contribute my abilities and traits to the team. Without a doubt, I can give more,” Calafiori remarked. Everyone is pushed in both the game and during training by the competition, which is beneficial. I have already made myself at home. Now that the crew has been so wonderful to work with, it’s time to play.
Calafiori emphasized that Arsenal is prepared for the match against Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday and cautioned the hosts that the Gunners have a “belief and strength” that would enable them to prevail.
Without a doubt, we think we can win,” he stated. “We have to win every game. That’s what we think and how strongly we feel. We’re capable of it. My familiarity with Manchester City is fairly good. We are all familiar with City, therefore I don’t need someone to inform me about them. However, we don’t need to talk about them since we need to concentrate on ourselves and, if we perform our work correctly, we can defeat them. We have a great team and a good attitude, but we should focus on Sunday now since it will also be a very difficult game.
FUTURE PLANS FOR CALAFIORI? As Arteta gets his team ready for a thrilling Premier League matchup against City, he must decide between Calafiori and Jurien Timber. The outcome might have a significant impact on the fight for the championship, and it is unclear if the Spaniard will start Calafiori, who hasn’t played a complete 90 minutes since joining from Bologna in the summer.