Real Madrid’s pivot from Riccardo Calafiori to signing Marc Cucurella may be explained by the fact that Arsenal were asking for £86m for the defender.
Real Madrid began the summer by making enquiries around the potential signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Arsenal, but the Spanish club ended up bringing in Marc Cucurella instead.
Whilst the ins and outs of Real Madrid’s pursuit of Calafiori remain unknown, a significant factor could have been that Arsenal were asking for £86m.
Aaron Morris reports for Football.London that Andrea Berta was asking for ‘at least’ £86m for Calafiori this summer, effectively ruling out the transfer.
In light of that price tag, Real Madrid officially confirmed the signing of Cucurella from Chelsea, on a six-year deal lasting to 2032.
David Ornstein had reported for The Athletic on Sunday that Real Madrid and Chelsea had reached an agreement for a fee of €55m (£47.5m) plus another €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons. Quite a bit less than the £86m Arsenal wanted.
Guillermo Rai added for The Athletic that Real Madrid are actually now overstocked at left-back, having Cucurella, Alvaro Carreras, Fran Garcia, and Ferland Mendy.
Far from making another left-back signing, the most likely outcome is seemingly that the Spanish club make a sale in the position, with Garcia the favourite to depart.
This is all good news for Arsenal fans, who wouldn’t have wanted to see Calafiori leaving the club, and especially not in a cut-price deal. The fact Berta was playing hardball and ultimately keeping the defender around is good news on both counts.
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