Calafiori dreamin’ … | Arseblog … an Arsenal blog

Morning.

There’s not a lot going on right now. Mikel Arteta’s press conference takes place after lunch, so we’ll get some team news then. Possibly. There was a small update yesterday when Sky Sports cameras at the training ground caught Ben White and Christian Norgaard with the main squad, back after their early season injury issues, so that’s good news. Cristhian Mosquera was also there having not featured for Spain’s U21s, also good news.

Not at all unsurprisingly, there was no sign of either William Saliba or Bukayo Saka, who are absent with ankle and hamstring issues respectively. But, those two apart, it looks as if the manager has a full complement available to him for tomorrow. We’ll find out more later. Possibly.

Here’s a quick game, if I give you this quote, what does it sound like?

When I first got the call, I was honestly honoured. If you look at the [REDCACTED] family, it’s always been big names — so to be part of that group means a lot.

A player joining a new club, right? Except no. This is actually Riccardo Calafiori responding to a question from Versus about being announced as an Adidas underwear ambassador. He goes on to say:

At the beginning I was a little embarrassed because my teammates were joking about me being a “model,” but once I saw the pictures I was proud of the result. It showed me a different side of myself and gave me confidence to try new things outside football.

Hey, if you look that good and people want to pay you to wear their underpants, I say go for it. It’s Arsenal heritage anyway, following in the footsteps/glistening abs of Freddie Ljungberg who modeled for Calvin Klein; Oliver Giroud as the front man for French brand ‘Roubignoles’; and Igor Stepanovs whose own-range of y-fronts and briefs was short-lived.

After a difficult first season with injury, he also talks about wanting to show what he can really do this time around:

Last season wasn’t easy, but I came back this summer with a fire inside me. I couldn’t wait to start again. Playing in the Premier League is the dream for so many players, so now I just want to enjoy it and show what I can do consistently.

The fans only saw a little of what I can do. I want to show much more this year. I want fans to see my personality on the pitch — how much I care, how much I fight. When people look back, I want them to say positive things not just about me as a player, but as a person who gave everything.

Generally speaking, fans pretty much always want the best for a player, particularly when they first arrive, but being a bit injury prone is a sure-fire way for some of them to lose patience in you. I really like Calafiori as a player, and maybe this season with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Piero Hincapie there to share the burden at left-back, and even left centre-half where I think we’ll see him play also, he can have an injury free campaign. He’s just such a fun player to watch too, something of a throwback to a different era, so fingers crossed for him.

Right, there’s not much else going on, but for some extra reading Tim’s column is here, and don’t forget we’ll be looking ahead to the Nottingham Forest game on our Patreon preview podcast a little later this afternoon.

For now, have a good one, and there’s a brand new Arsecast below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet. I’m joined by Philippe Auclair to talk some Arsenal stuff and some of the wider football stories of the week. Enjoy!