"Madness" – Journalist slams club for letting Arsenal beat them to signing

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Arsenal fans were generally impressed with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori from day one, and have grown even fonder of the player since.

The summer signing impressed for the Azzurri against Israel, once again showcasing his ability to carry the ball forward and operate in midfield and even in attack.

He is starting to show those traits for Arsenal, scoring against Manchester City some weeks ago and capturing a lot of attention.

As the Italian’s time in London takes off, there is now a feeling in Italy that at least one club should have tried to keep a player of his quality in the country.

Juventus were heavily linked with the defender in the summer and journalist Valentina Ballarini can’t believe that the Bianconeri didn’t try harder.

She told SportItalia, as relayed by BianconeraNews: “Losing Calafiori was madness. I don’t know how to define it in any other way. It was a madness in our football, the most evident in recent years. 

"There have been many, it’s true, caused by the economic power that we no longer have for some time, but that of Calafiori drives me crazy in a negative way."

Ballarini also went on to criticise Roma for letting Calafiori leave for Basel in the first place.

"How could Roma lightheartedly let go of a player like that? How could they not see his infinite potential and not trust him despite his many physical problems? Why didn’t Juventus go all in on the defender instead of spending €50m for Douglas Luiz and €15m for Cabal?"

Juventus could have spent the money Arsenal did for the 22-year-old, but they had many gaps to fill in the squad, which led them to cut back on spending big on too many individual players.

Signing him would have been easier said than done for Juve, and for Roma it was probably Calafiori’s history of knee problems that convinced them to let him go to Basel.

Their loss is Arsenal’s gain.

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