Arsenal hit with huge Riccardo Calafiori injury blow as Italy make major decision on defender
Arsenal have been dealt a fresh blow after an update emerged over the fitness of Riccardo Calafiori.
The versatile defender emerged as an injury concern for the Gunners after he featured for Italy in their Nations League win over France on Friday.
Calafiori was accidentally caught on the leg by Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele and was subsequently substituted by Italy manager Luciano Spaletti.
The Italy boss was initially hopeful that the injury to Calafiori would not be too serious and even stated that he hoped to have the Arsenal defender available for Monday night’s Nations League fixture against Israel.
However, Fabrizio Romano has reported on Sunday that Calafiori has returned to North London following the injury and is no longer part of the Italy squad.
It has been stated that the defender will be assessed by the Arsenal medical department following the injury.
There has been no indication so far of the severity of the injury, with Mikel Arteta likely to be asked about Calafiori’s fitness when he speaks to the media next week.
As a result, the defender looks a major doubt for Arsenal’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend in the North London Derby in the Premier League.
The update from Romano on Calafiori comes after Sky Sports Italy reported that the defender had missed training for his country on Saturday. The report stated that the 22-year-old was not with his international teammates who arrived from the team bus to take part in the latest training session.
Should Calafiori be unavailable for Arsenal for next weekend’s clash against Spurs, Arteta could be forced to go into the game with some of his players being on the sidelines. Declan Rice is one player guaranteed to miss the game as he serves a one-game suspension for his red card in last week’s draw with Brighton.
There also remain question marks over the fitness of Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard, although the latter recently featured for Norway. Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mikel Merino and Kieran Tierney remain sidelined through their respective injuries.
