Riccardo Calafiori signed a five-year deal with Arsenal this week, making him the first player added this summer.

The Italian stood out during his country’s Euro 2024 campaign in more than one way. He had already done great things for Thiago Motta’s exciting Bologna team the previous season.

Mikel Arteta was happy for his team to pay £42 million for the back, who is 22 years old and hasn’t played for the first team 100 times yet. But the manager of the Gunners is building a great track record when it comes to finding and training defenders.

The defender Arteta signed is the eleventh one he has bought since taking over in 2019. Based on their record in the last two Premier League seasons, he has a good eye for finding new players to add to his back line.

Mail Sport looks at how the other 10 defenders signed by the Spanish coach have done over the years now that Calafiori has been signed.

Arsenal completed the signing of 22-year-old Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori this week

The defensive player was a star for Bologna and is the 11th one Mikel Arteta has signed since taking over as Arsenal manager in 2019.

£4 million for Pablo Mari

Mari is unique because she was Arteta’s first signing at the cub. He was bought from Flamengo in January 2020, when the defense was in bad shape because Callum Chambers and Shkodran Mustafi were hurt and Konstantinos Mavropanos went on loan to Nurnberg.

Fans of the Gunners will know how far they’ve come in the last five and a half years.

In a mostly boring stretch that lasted only two seasons, Mari played 22 times for the team. He was loaned to the Italian team Monza for the 2022–23 season and then became a regular member of the team the following year.

It was always meant to be a short-term fix for Arteta during his first transfer window, but he still didn’t make a lasting impact on the club.

After coming to Arsenal from Flamengo in 2020, Pablo Mari only played 22 times for them.Free Cedric Soares

In January 2020, Arsenal bought right back Cedric Soares from Southampton in a deal that seemed a lot like the Mari deal. The Portuguese player had six months left on his contract with Southampton, so he went to the Emirates on loan. He then made the move permanent as a free agent that summer.

In his signing statement, Soares said that he almost joined the Gunners a few months before. If that were true, he might be given more credit. Instead, the defender who came to north London was not even close to being as good as the one who did well on the south coast.

He played in the Premier League 21 times for Arsenal in the 2021–22 season, which was his best league performance. Another player on this list quickly took Soares’ place, and after a failed loan move two years ago, he finally left the Gunners for free last season.

Cedric Soares’ last game for Arsenal was in April, when they beat Sheffield United 6-0.

Gabriel Magalhaes – £27 million

As one of Arsenal’s three “Gabriels,” Gabriel Magalhaes is without a doubt the most important player. Last season, the Brazilian was an important part of the best defense in the Premier League. He was also dangerous from set pieces.

In 2023–24, Arsenal allowed 29 fewer goals than any other team. No team could beat their 18 clean sheets, and only a Chelsea team from 15 years ago played better at home.

Many of the praise for Arsenal’s great defense still goes to William Saliba, but Gabriel is just as important. It really wasn’t always that way. The 26-year-old looked like a risk after moving from Lille for £27 million.

Even before the start of last season, there were a lot of rumors that he was about to leave Arsenal because he wasn’t in the starting lineup for the first game. But Gabriel has been a big success and a great example of how Arteta tends to be defensive.

Gabriel Magalhaes has become an important player for Mikel Arteta’s team over the last few years.

Seven million pounds for Nuno TavaresUnfortunately, such a nice thing can’t be said about Nuno Taveres. He never got over the fact that he was a bad left back who made a lot of mistakes.

The Portuguese player went from Benfica to the Emirates in 2021 and played 22 times in his first season, though most of those games were in the beginning of the season.

When the summer of 2022 came around, Arteta didn’t waste any time. He was quickly sent to Marseille and then spent last season on loan with Nottingham Forest. The 24-year-old is still on the team’s books, and he just made his third short-term deal in as many seasons.

It’s his hope that life in Rome with Lazio is better for him.

 

Arsenal’s manager didn’t believe Nuno Tavares (left) was good enough to play for the first team.

Ben White: £50 million

Since his big-money move from Brighton to Arsenal in 2021, White has always been in the Arsenal defense. In the last three seasons, he has only missed seven league games for Arsenal, and six of those were in his first season.

White started out as a center back but has since become one of the most reliable full backs in world football. Because of how versatile and reliable he is, he would likely be picked for any team in the world.

Many laughed at the fee when he signed, even though he had great times with Brighton and Leeds, but that fee now looks like a steal.

Ben White has only missed one Arsenal Premier League game in the last two years.

Takehiro Tomiyasu — £20 million

On Arsenal’s last raid on Bologna, Takehiro Tomiyasu was found. A lot of the time, he’s not too different from White. For example, Arteta can mostly trust him to play defense and sometimes even help with attack.

But in the end, he’s not Ben White. And the Japanese defender is definitely a back-up because he is good at playing across the back line. Over the last two years, he only made 16 starts because of injuries.

Then Calafiori showed up, which meant he might be leaving the club soon. Having said that, Tomiyasu has been a good worker for the side so far.

International to JapanLast season, Takehiro Tomiyasu had a lot of trouble with illnesses, and now that Calafiori is here, his spot could be in danger.

£1,500,000 for Auston Trusty

Arsenal signed Auston Trusty from MLS team Colorado Rapids on Deadline Day of the January 2022 transfer window. They hoped that they could help Trusty grow as an American player.

The move was part of the teams’ growing relationship with each other. Both are owned by Kroenke Sports Entertainment.

The center-back never played in north London, though. He went to Birmingham City and then was loaned back to Major League Soccer that winter. Finally, he was sold to Sheffield United for £5 million last season.

Before he was sold to Sheffield United in 2023, Auston Trusty never played for Arsenal.

Oleksandr Zinchenko — £32 million

When Zinchenko joined Arsenal, it was a sign that the Gunners were becoming a real title contender. The Ukrainian may not be good enough to stay by the time they reach their goal, which is bad for him.

Still, the 27-year-old and Arteta should be praised for how the team has changed since he joined for £32 million from Manchester City in 2023. It was clear that the Arsenal manager knew him from when he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the Etihad.

Arsenal became much better when they had the ball thanks to Zinchenko. In his first season, the Gunners went from fifth place to second. Last season, he played 27 league games, the same number of games he played in 2022–23. However, Zinchenko was getting more and more abuse from Arsenal fans for not being good enough at defense.

The four-time Premier League winner in north London could be out of a job after Calafiori signs, just like Tomiyasu.

Oleksandr Zinchenko’s move from Manchester City marked Arsenal’s rise to being a title contender.

£21m for Jakub Kiwior

Kiwior has only been at the club for 18 months, so it might be too soon to judge his signed player. He came from Spezia and is a Polish international. He was definitely brought in to help the Gunners’ team, not to start right away.

I wouldn’t say he’s wowed everyone just yet, but he did lead the team to eight wins, one draw, and one loss in 10 Premier League games, which could be a sign of better things to come.

He is still only 24 years old, so he has a lot of time to make his mark.

 

Jakub Kiwior enjoyed a run of 10 straight matches for Mikel Arteta’s side in the league, as well as seven appearances in the Champions League

 

 

Arsenal fans have been desperate to see Jurrien Timber return after he suffered a season-ending injury just 45 minutes into his debut last term

 

Jurrien Timber – £41m

Timber suffered a cruel season-ending injury just 45 minutes into his Arsenal debut following a £41m move from Dutch giants Ajax. Arsenal fans will be fully justified in claiming that he ‘feels like a new signing’.

It will be interesting to see where he is deployed, especially after the addition of a player that shares so many qualities with him.