Serie A club fight to keep Italian ace amidst Liverpool interest

Bologna technical director Giovanni Sartori wants to keep Riccardo Calafiori amid interest from Liverpool to sign the Italian this summer

Liverpool want Bologna centre-back Riccardo Calafiori during but their technical director Giovanni Sartori highlighted the desire to make him stay. Calafiori enjoyed a fantastic season with the Italian club and attracted attention with his performances in the Euro 2024 competition.

However, Italy crashed out of the tournament during the round of 16 in the Euro after losing 2-0 to Switzerland. Calafiori missed Italy’s eventually last game after serving a one-match suspension for accumulating two yellow cards during the group stages.

The 22-year-old’s performances have attracted interest from top clubs in Europe and Bologna faces a massive challenge to keep him. The Italian side will play in the Champions League next season after finishing fifth in the Serie A last season.

However, they lost their manager Thiago Motta to Juventus which has drastically changed the situation involving their top football stars. Calafiori enjoyed a steep improvement in his development and a rise in his reputation under Motta last season with consistent performances.

The Italy international can play as a left-back alongside his preferred centre-back role, capable of dictating the game from defence. Calafiori has the technical and physical prowess that combines well with his maturity and mental ability to maintain high consistency.

Bologna’s technical director Sartori addressed the rumours surrounding Calafiori (via Liverpool Echo) while highlighting his desire to make him stay. He said:

“We took him 12 months ago so we’ll see what happens in the market but in our heads, there is the will to keep him.”

Liverpool want a left-footed centre-back to compete with their ageing captain Virgil van Dijk and eventually succeed him at Anfield. The Reds failed to make a gradual transition in their ageing midfield which created their struggle in the 2022-23 season.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp used the 2023 summer transfer window to revamp the midfield completely to rectify that error. They are still a little unbalanced with the lack of natural number six in the midfield area.

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Liverpool don’t want to face a similar issue in their defence after Joel Matip departed as a free agent. A sudden complete revamp is hard for any team to deal with as it takes time to build team chemistry. It is always better to make a gradual recycling within the squad, particularly when we are talking about replacing a legend like Van Dijk.