Riccardo Calafiori is not the only defender Arsenal are looking to sign this summer.
The Gunners came ever so close to winning the Premier League title in the 2023/24 season. They took the title race to the last day of the campaign and finished just two points short of Manchester City.
After finishing as the runners-up in two consecutive seasons, Mikel Arteta will be desperate to go that one step further in the upcoming campaign.
To do that, the Gunners boss needs to reinforce his squad.
It looks like Arsenal are on the verge of signing Calafiori, but if a report is to be believed, they are also keeping a close eye on another defender.
Arsenal want to sign Bournemouth’s Ilya Zabarnyi as well as Calafiori
Arsenal boasted the best defence in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season.
The Gunners conceded just 29 goals in 38 games in the English top-flight last term, which is just remarkable. That helped them go the distance in the title race.
Calafiori has convinced Bologna to sell him to Arsenal, which is excellent news for the Gunners. Their defence is even stronger now.
However, if CaughtOffside are to be believed, Arteta is eyeing a move to sign another defender along with Calafiori now.
The report claims that Arsenal are monitoring Bournemouth star Ilya Zabarnyi, who like Calafiori is a player for the present as well as the future.
The 21-year-old had a fine season in the Premier League under Andoni Iraola last season. He missed just one game all campaign and was really impressive.
The outlet adds that Arsenal’s scouts watched Zabarnyi during Euro 2024 and the reports they sent back to the decision-makers at the Emirates were all positive.
Bournemouth don’t want to lose Zabarnyi, but the report claims they would be happy to cash in if they received a bid of around £40 million-£45 million.
Zabarnyi already has a friend at Arsenal
Zabarnyi is a defender with immense potential.
The Bournemouth star is still only 21 years old, and he has all the qualities to develop into a top-class centre-back in the coming years.
Zabarnyi, who was previously linked to Tottenham, would fit in well at Arsenal because his fellow countryman, Oleksandr Zinchenko, is also still at the club.
However, Arsenal really don’t need the Bournemouth star this summer.
The Gunners have William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jakub Kiwior as centre-back options, while Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Jurrien Timber and soon Calafiori can all play there as well.
Adding another defender makes absolutely no sense, so we would be really surprised if the Gunners made a move for Zabarnyi this summer.