Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth reports that Riccardo Calafiori will fly to the United States on Sunday afternoon to link up with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal squad on their pre-season tour, with the announcement of his transfer from Bologna now imminent.
Sheth confirms previous reports that Calafiori was holding a medical in London on Saturday, and the deal has been fully agreed.
Personal terms have also been agreed with the defender, so it’s just a matter of signing the contract and officially confirming the transfer.
The formal documentation for the transfer was reportedly completed on Friday night, giving Calafiori the go-ahead for his medical on Saturday.
The fee is believed to be an initial €40m (£33.8m) with an additional €5m (£4.2m) in add-ons. Thus the total cost of the transfer could reach around £38m.
Calafiori would be Arsenal’s fourth summer signing, having so far brought in David Raya from Brentford and young goalkeepers Tommy Setford and Lucas Nygaard.
If the move is finalised quickly, Calafiori could yet make a cameo in Arsenal’s friendly against Liverpool on Wednesday (00:30 BST on Thursday UK time).
Calafiori will be keen to meet and spend some time with the squad, whether he plays any minutes in the U.S. or not.
Arsenal return to London next week, before playing a couple of friendlies at the Emirates Stadium against Bayer Leverkusen on August 7th and Lyon on August 11th.
Those are more likely dates for the defender’s full debut, should the signing go through without any further issues.