Arsenal fans notice Jurrien Timber's reaction in Riccardo Calafiori's video after realising he could take his places
Arsenal fans couldn't help but notice how Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior reacted to Riccardo Calafiori's arrival at the club.
Arsenal He signed Calafiori from Bologna this week in a deal For an initial value of £38 million after a spectacular season in which he helped lead the Serie A side to fifth place in the league.
The Italian international can play as a left-back, centre-back and defensive midfielder, as can two other of the coach's players. Mikel Arteta He already has it in the template.
Timber and Kiwior both play left back and centre back, but had difficult campaigns last season.
Timber spent much of the year injured after suffering a torn ACL in his debut, while Kiwior struggled to get playing time ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Arteta introduced Calafiori, who has been compared to Sergio Ramosin a moving video posted on Arsenal's YouTube channel where the defender stands up and is applauded by his new teammates.
But Arsenal fans took notice of their rivals during the match, particularly Dutchman Timber, who applauded warmly before casting a glance at the new recruit.
Meanwhile, Kiwior smiled as he entered the room and high-fived a coach as one fan wrote: “Does he know?”
Speaking about Timber, one fan wrote: “Look at Timber.”
Another replied: “I thought I was the only one who saw this, he knows the competition is getting tougher.”
Arsenal now have several options in defence, which was the best in the Premier League last season and conceded just 29 goals.
Arteta largely stuck with the same back four when available, with David Raya taking Aaron Ramsdale's place in goal, but Calafiori could become the new first-choice left-back ahead of Zinchenko.
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It means that every player has a backup with Takehiro Tomiyasu behind. Ben White On the right side, Timber behind Guillermo Saliba and Kiwior behind Gabriel Magalhaes.
And while the Gunners plan a way to overthrow Manchester City At the top of the table, Arteta will need all the help he can get.
Calafiori could be the answer after Zinchenko came under fire at times during the season, with the 22-year-old making a brief speech during his first meeting with the team.
He said: “Of course, I'm very happy to be here. I've been waiting for a long time. I hope we can do something great this year. Just this, thank you.”
After the meeting, Arteta gave Calafiori a big hug as the full-back said: “Is this for real?”
Arteta replied: “It's real, it's real.”
Arsenal's move for Calafiori was held up by Bologna after a dispute with his former club Basel over the asking price and Arteta admitted he was left frustrated.
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He said: “I'm very happy. It took a while, he's a player we've been following for a year.”
“Last year we were short of a lot of players in defence and we demanded a lot from them. William Saliba, for example, played every minute of the Premier League and we felt we needed to be more protected.
“We have identified him as a talent who can bring us skills and qualities that will make us better. We are signing a player with enormous development capacity.”
Arsenal will return to action on Wednesday night against Liverpool in a preseason friendly at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Whether Calafiori will be involved remains to be seen, but Arteta could give fans a glimpse of his latest signing.
Mikel Arteta on Riccardo Calafiori
Arteta: “I'm very happy that we've been able to count on Riccardo. As I said, it was very important to have that protection in the defensive line because of the problems we had, especially last year when Jurrien was injured.
“It increases quality and competition and is very good for the team.
“It was the numbers. We only had six defenders in the defensive line and at this level you have to be very lucky to keep the season going like this.”
“We were, because William, for example, and Gabriel played almost every minute, we played more than 50 percent more minutes than the previous season and whether we are able to do that consistently for the next three or four years is a big unknown.
“Obviously you can't bet on that, it's a big bet and we don't want to take it.
“(He can play) both as a left-back and as a centre-back, especially in the way we want to play and the way we want to evolve in our game models.
“He's a player who will fit into what we want.
“I spoke to him once or twice and he knew the other things (the interested teams).
“I wasn't quite sure if we could do it or not, but he was firm: 'Let me know when you're ready, my bags are packed and I just want to come to Arsenal'.
“Those were his words and when you have that feeling, someone with that will to join us and make us better and that determination, it's a really powerful thing and as a club, we should be really proud of that.”
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