Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori on his career at Roma: “I am disappointed but they could not predict my future” | OneFootball

Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori has revealed his thoughts about his time at Roma and has compared the intensity of the Premier League with that of the Serie A.

Speaking in an interview with Undici via Corriere dello Sport, the 22-year-old talked about his career beginning at Roma and how he made the steps to reach the level of the Premier League. He said: “At the moment I’m disappointed. But I’ve never held a grudge against Roma, I think it’s not easy to predict the future of such a young guy. And then a club has to make choices, especially if it has so many guys in that role.”

Calafiori started out with the Giallorossi but soon fell out of favour after three seasons in the senior team. He was loaned to Genoa, then moved to Basel and made a name for himself at Bologna, which earned him a place in Mikel Arteta’s side.

Speaking about the Spaniard, the ex-Bologna man said: “I was immediately impressed by how much he cared about getting to know me. One day on the phone he sent me some photos of my family and asked me to say what each member of the family meant to me. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, I’m not saying that he convinced me with this alone but it certainly represented an important moment.”

The Italian defender compared the style of gameplay in the Premier League with the Serie A as he said: “The teams all play the same way, at two thousand intensity, it’s as if they were playing in a bubble”.

Calafiori gave this interview while getting ready for Italy’s clash against Germany tomorrow at San Siro.

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN