Calafiori best left-back in Premier League, but it’s a new role for Italy
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 21: Riccardo Calafiori of Arsenal during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Arsenal FC and Coventry City at Emirates Stadium on August 21, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Federico Dimarco’s injury has precipitated a big change to Riccardo Calafiori’s Italy career, as he could be used as a left-back for only the second time, following on from his Arsenal role.
The Azzurri go into the Nations League against Belgium, Turkiye and France, so new coach Roberto Mancini held his first training session today at the Coverciano camp.
Mancini has hinted he wants to adopt a 4-3-3 formation, breaking ranks with Luciano Spalletti and Gennaro Gattuso, who had largely used three at the back.
Calafiori changing Italy role
The coach had intended to use Inter left-sided wing-back Dimarco, but the player pulled out of the squad today with a knee injury, so Aston Villa’s Matteo Ruggeri was called up instead.
Calafiori was tested out there today, and that is a very big change from his usual Italy position, which in all but his debut was in the back three.
The exact spot varied from the left side to central or on the right of that trio, occasionally clashing with Alessandro Bastoni.
The only time in 14 senior caps that the former Bologna defender played as a left-back for Italy was in his brief debut off the bench in a 0-0 friendly against Turkiye in June 2024, replacing Dimarco.
It might seem remarkable for Arsenal fans or followers of the Premier League, considering so far this season several pundits have called Calafiori “the best left-back” in the division.
In 71 competitive games for Arsenal, the Italian has scored five goals with seven assists.
There was just one assist for Italy, during the 1-1 EURO 2024 group game against Croatia.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.