Riccardo Calafiori injury latest as Arsenal star suffers scare ahead of Tottenham fixture
Arsenal centre-back Riccardo Calafiori has suffered an injury scare during the international break.
The Italian arrived at the Emirates Stadium this summer from Bologna to strengthen Mikel Arteta's options in defence. Calafiori joined for an initial fee of around £33.7million with add-ons that could take the deal up to £42m.
Arteta handed the 22-year-old his Arsenal debut against Aston Villa last month, but he could now face a potential spell on the sidelines through injury. Below, football.london has taken a look at the latest surrounding Calafiori's injury.
What happened?
Calafiori was playing for Italy during their Nations League group stage win over France on Friday night. The defender was accidentally caught by France's Ousmane Dembele leaving him in pain.
The centre-back was subsequently withdrawn by Italy manager Luciano Spalletti in the 71st minute in Paris. Calafiori hobbled off and looked to be in a lot of discomfort.
Spalletti's assessment
Spalletti eased concerns over the injury scare following his side's 3-1 victory over the French. He told reporters: "We need to assess Riccardo but with our staff, we’ve a good chance to have him back with us for the next game."
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Italy withdrawal
Calafiori withdrew from the Italy squad on Sunday in a worrying blow to Arsenal. "Riccardo Calafiori leaves Italy camp as the staff will take no risk after his injury against France. Calafiori will return to London and he will be assessed by #AFC medical staff," Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Wordless message
The Italian posted a wordless message on his Instagram stories. Calafiori posted a picture of him in action during Friday's game against France but did not mention his injury.
Reassuring news
In more reassuring news for the Gunners though, Romano went on to claim that Calafiori's injury is just a knock and not serious. He claims that the withdrawal was just precautionary.