Chelsea explore surprise transfer raid for Arsenal star who's unsettled for two reasons

Riccardo Calafiori chats with his Arsenal teammates pre-match (Photo by Pau Barrena/Getty Images)

Chelsea are reportedly exploring a surprise potential transfer move for Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori, who could be open to leaving the Emirates Stadium.

That’s according to Simon Phillips, who has stated that Chelsea were keen on Calafiori before he joined the Gunners, while the Italy international is now keen to get more playing time and specifically play more often at centre-back than at left-back.

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Calafiori has impressed at Arsenal in his two seasons in north London, but he now seems to have fallen behind Piero Hincapie in the pecking order after some injury problems.

It remains to be seen if this could mean the 23-year-old will move this summer, with Arsenal surely likely to be keen to keep the player.

Riccardo Calafiori transfer still makes sense for Chelsea

Calafiori probably wouldn’t come cheap due to being a player at a rival club who’s yet to reach his peak, but apart from that this seems like a strong deal for Chelsea to be going after.

See below for the score we gave Calafiori to Chelsea with our Transfer Fit rating system, and find out more about how it works here…

Chelsea really could have done well to sign Calafiori before Arsenal a couple of years ago, but he’d still surely have a positive impact for Liam Rosenior’s side.

If Calafiori wants to play centre-back, that’s probably ideal, as he’d represent a clear upgrade on unconvincing performers like Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo in that position.

At left-back, it’s less clear if he’d play regularly due to the presence of Marc Cucurella and Jorrel Hato.

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