BREAKING NEWS: Arsenal sign Riccardo Calafiori!

Welcome Riccardo California! Italy international Riccardo California has joined us from Serie A side Bologna on a long-term contract. The 22-year-old defender was a member of Italy's squad at the Euros after a season full of impressive performances at the heart of Bologna's defence. He started his youth career at Roma, where he spent 12 years there developing. Then he obviously headed out on loan to Genoa people. He then found his way at Basel. Last August, he signed for Bologna and on the eve of August, but in July of 2024, he's now evidently an Arsenal player. Last season, Riccardo was a leading figure in their backline, emerging as one of the strongest and most consistent performances in Serie A. We've signed one of the most promising Italian defenders in Serie A, on top of already being spoilt for options. You don't remember Mustafi, Socrates, Pablo Mourinho, the Chuckle Brothers and Callum Chambers and Rob Holden. I wouldn't throw David Luiz into that bracket with them, but David Luiz, Cedric, Bellerin have come a long way, man. Timba, Gabriel, Saliba, Benjamin White, Californi, Tommy Assi. People can get at Zinchenko, but he does have some qualities, people. Last season, Riccardo was a leading figure in their backline, emerging as one of the strongest and most consistent performances in Serie A. He played an integral role in whatever that is, in their impressive fifth position and they obviously got the Champions League. Really, I just want to hear what Edu and Mikel Arteta have said. Edu has said, It's been a great team effort in completing the transfer. We welcome Riccardo to the family. We identified Riccardo as part of our strategy to sign players who fit our profile and will reinforce our squad to compete at the highest level. He is 22, but brings quality and experience. He will grow quickly into being an Arsenal player. Riccardo has consistently shown his quality for his club and country. He was one of the best players in Serie A last season and gave strong performances for Italy in the Euros this summer. Mikel and our coaches are excited to work with Riccardo and we all look forward to seeing him in our shirt. And I think the only people more excited is obviously the fans, people. One second, folks. It seems like I've got a notification from YouTube. Apologies. Give me 30 seconds and we'll finish off this article and everything else. Gaffer, what have you said? Mikel Arteta, we welcome Riccardo and his family to Arsenal. He's a great sign and it gives us huge strength to reinforce our defence. Riccardo is a big personality and character. I mean, if we signed an Italian that wasn't a big character or a big personality, that would be my first alarm bell. With specific skills, which will make us stronger. Once again, this is not the first time you've heard specific skills when talking about recruitment as we push to win major honours. He has already shown great development in recent seasons with his performances for both Bologna and Italy, with his progression and development in the past year being really impressive. We're looking forward to working with Riccardo, integrating him into the squad and supporting him in years to come. Riccardo is a wavy name as well. Riccardo will wear the number 33 shirt for us people and he might be in line to play against Liverpool. And respectfully to California, it's not like signing Neymar, but you'd imagine, you know, fans that were in America and contemplating not watching Liverpool or Arsenal probably sold a couple of extra, probably a couple of new season shirts, but probably, you know, sold a couple of tickets there as well. The man himself has said it's a dream move. I mean, a bit of PR with that. It feels amazing. It was tough until now, but we're finally here and I cannot wait to start to train with the team and play for the fans. And he's already began such people. It's always been my dream since I was 12 or 13 because I can see the level of the league here and the best players in the world for me play here. It's a dream and not only for me, but for everybody. He also revealed that he had discussions with Mikel Arteta and Edu. Obviously, he would have, you know, called his international teammate, you know, Jorginho, and seen what's going on there. And you'd imagine Jorginho is going to, you know, be his mate off the field as well as everyone else and getting him up to speed with London. I mean, you lot are going to be, are they going to be back in time? You know, Jorginho went carnival last year. Riccardo, way, you might as well hit Notting Hill. I spoke a lot with the coach, with Edu, and they convinced me, but I was already convinced by myself. I think it's the best project for me for the next few years. And I think I'll improve as a player. As I said, you're an Italian. When you speak of Italy, that is the university or the utopia of defending. When you look at Arsenal, the whole team has improved defensively. Young players have improved. It makes sense to come and join us individually and collectively. I just met Jorginho one month ago. I can see he's a really good guy. I was already convinced, but he forced me. He said, come, come, come, you will enjoy being here. The team is amazing. And the staff, everything is good. You can see that already from the first minutes here, people. So, yeah, big game up, people. And there's competition for places. The man said, I came here to play, so I'll do everything to play and give something to the team. I hope I can do that from the first few games. From my point of view, it's just to start the beginning of something bigger. I'm excited to play for Arsenal and to win trophies. Amen. And I think our first five games, you know, while there's 38 games, I think our first five games, we need to hit the ground running, similar to last season, people. I believe this is slash was the mystery German player the other day. I got an update that it was off because Bayern Munich couldn't secure their targets. Who were their targets? Is it Xavi Simmonds? I'm not sure. Is it Dewey? Apparently, the feeling is that Smith-Rowe could seal his move to Fulham this week with just the final details of the agreement left to finalise the transfer, people. Apparently, Fulham have agreed, courtesy of Dalmar Sheff, a deal in principle. His signing will be a club record 34 million. We need to do a lot better there, really, because Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, for a while, was our record sale. Seven million in add-ons. The player will undergo medical this week with the plan for him to join Fulham's pre-season camp in Portugal. The evening standard have more or less echoed the same thing, people, and spoke of Crystal Palace's interest. And he was a key part of Mikel Arteta's early doors at Arsenal. It hasn't happened. Fundamentally, for injuries and just not being an option, he's played 346 minutes of Premier League football last season, and he's not scored for us since April 2022, which is harsh, but we wish the 24-year-old, you know, happy belated birthday. It was his birthday yesterday. All the best. Arteta did say things are happening in the background when he wasn't involved against Bournemouth, and he wasn't in the squad full stop, obviously, for a victory against Manchester United. Apparently, Romano has said he has already left the Arsenal camp to travel for a medical and sign his contract at Fulham. Marco Silva was the key to convince Smith-Rowe after many clubs wanted him. And once again, people, he's in very good condition on payment terms. We'll get seven million in add-ons and 27 million up front. So same fee we owed Brentford for David Rayo. So yeah, people, and yeah, we saw that. That was the first initial kind of breaking news with David Ornstein about Smith-Rowe. Yeah, I mean, we've been linked with a loan for Fabian Ruiz. Apparently, court-of-side are saying sources close to the situation have informed court-of-side that Arsenal remain interested in Fabian Ruiz and he's now understood to be seen as a viable option to strengthen their midfield. HITC has said they can confirm Arsenal scouts were in attendance to check on Victor Llorez in action against Bilbao on Saturday. Llorez has an £84 million release clause, but there's belief that Sporting could now accept a deal nearer to 60 million. If we can get Nelson and Nketiah out the door on top of people who need to go, then maybe we could, you know, once you get Moreno over the line, maybe we could get a Llorez. And then, you know, with Gabriel Jesus returning to form, with Havertz continuing his staff, with Martinelli getting back to staff, with Trossart and Saka doing what they're doing, we could be cooking something special here, people. But Llorez isn't only of interest to Arsenal. Apparently Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are interested, so we'll have to see what's going on there. Melissa Reddy has said Mikel Arteta and Edu are assessing the market for midfield and forward options, but they're very aware that the pull of players that can elevate Arsenal's level is quite shallow. They're prepared to be patient and work more surgically in the market. I mean, we already knew that. I think that's a creative way of just saying what we already know about the club. You would have seen yesterday, Arsenal were linked with Moreno once again. Romano said we're prepared to advance in talks with Moreno's camp next week, which has now happened. And considering what we've been talking about, Monday really came with a bang. He's not the only name on the list, but well-positioned. Price tag requested by Sociedad will be key. You heard everything from 20 to 30 million euros for the 28-year-old who has a year left on his contract. Apparently Arteta appreciates him. As soon as Smith-Rowe leaves, Arsenal can proceed. So we've got work to do. Arsenal's interest in Mikel Moreno is alive after new talks in recent days. Atletico Madrid tried to include him in a deal for Robin Le Normad, but the player delayed. Barca are also interested, but are focused on other targets right now. They're still linked with Nico Williams and Dani Almo, folks. And again, Arsenal focus on Moreno. Arsenal have been having conversations on the player side. They're now prepared to attack the situation on the club side as well once they've completed the formal part of the California deal, which we all know evidently is done now, people. What have we got here? I spoke about that earlier today with Josh Kroenke. Smith-Rowe, here we go. It had to happen. But it doesn't mean it hurts any less. Farewell, my guy. Sky Sports Germany have said Arsenal are monitoring Leroy Sané's situation. Mikel Arteta and Sané have a great relationship from their playing time together. However, the player's focus is on Bayern. The current tendency is that Sané will stay and extend his contract. I believe he's contracted until 2025. So, like with a few Bayern Munich players, how interested are Arsenal in people like this? Or is it a mixture of Arteta's work with him, we need an inside forward, his Premier League experience and the contract? I guess we'll never know, people. The dream is free, the hustle is sold separately. Osserman, apparently Napoli, keep looking for solutions for Osserman as they want to bring in Lukaku as soon as possible. Apparently, Napoli could be open to discussing Osserman as part of Lukaku talks with Chelsea. Osserman said yes to PSG, but the deal is in standby between the clubs. So, and with the links with Juarez, we don't know because Arsenal do have a lot of decoys when it comes to news. Maybe, you know, we get back on the Osserman front, but I assume that that's gone. Arsenal are seeking to iron out the Smith-Rowe transfer to Fulham. So, once again, we can proceed with Moreno, people, in that regard. So, we'll have to see, essentially. But he's got a year left. Surely, Soccer are going to have to keep it moving. Apparently, Tottenham are attempting to hijack our move for Juarez. Apparently, it was reported Arsenal tabled a €70 million bid for the individual, which is about 60 odd million quid. He's got a €100 million release clause, which equates to about 84, as we saw. So, we'll have to see how that develops. We've gone over that. I mean, if anyone that picks Spurs over Arsenal, Spurs are welcome to you, essentially. Arsenal could trigger Nicole Williams' departure from Athletic Club by launching...