Arsenal in injury scare as new signing Calafiori hobbles off for Italy after freak collision with France ace Dembele
ARSENAL star Riccardo Calafiori appeared to have picked up a knock after a freak collision during the international break.
Calafiori, 22, linked up with Italy for Friday’s Nations League crunch clash against France at Parc des Princes.
Arsenal appear to have suffered an injury scare as Riccardo Calafiori hobbled offReuters
Calafiori linked up with Italy for the Nations League clash against FranceAP
France’s Ousmane Dembele went flying after a clash with Italy’s Alessandro Bastoni
Demebele caught Calafiori on the back of the knee as he landed
The centre-back returned to international duty following some impressive performances at Euro 2024, which led to his £42million move to the Emirates from Bologna this past summer.
However, the North Londoners just received quite an injury scare as the Italy international hobbled off the pitch on 71 minutes.
It all started after a clash between Calafiori’s team-mate Alessandro Bastoni and France star Ousmane Dembele in the 66th minute.
Inter Milan ace Bastoni tackled Paris Saint-Germain’s Dembele and sent him flying in the air.
And as he landed, the forward’s left foot made contact with Calafiori’s left leg as he caught him in the back of the knee studs first.
The Arsenal star may have turned his ankle slightly but still tried to power through, however he was ultimately substituted by Alessandro Buongiorno five minutes later.
Calafiori needed quite some time to get match ready once joining Mikel Arteta’s side in July.
The defender didn’t feature in the Premier League opener against Wolves last month as he sat on the bench.
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However, the ex-Roma ace made his debut as a sub at Aston Villa a week later.
Calafiori also came on for last week’s draw against Brighton where he made his Emirates bow.
The Italian proved he can contribute to Arsenal’s bid of ending their 21-year run without a Premier League title as he helped Luciano Spalletti’s side beat France 3-1.