Arsenal fans noticed how Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior reacted to the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori at the club.
Arsenal signed Calafiori from Bologna for an initial £38million this week, following a spectacular season in which he helped lead the Serie A team to fifth place in the league.
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The Italian international can play as a left-back, centre-back and defensive midfielder – similar to two other players that coach Mikel Arteta already has in the squad.
Timber and Kiwior both play left-back and centre-back, but had difficult seasons last season.
Timber was injured for most of the year after tearing an ACL in his debut, while Kiwior fought for playing time ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Arteta introduced Calafiori, who has been compared to Sergio Ramos, in a heartwarming video posted on Arsenal’s YouTube channel in which the defender stands up and is applauded by his new teammates.
But Arsenal fans had taken notice of his rivals, especially Dutchman Timber, who clapped his hands warmly before taking a look at the new signing.
Kiwior, meanwhile, beamed as he entered the room and gave a coach a high five, while one fan wrote: “Does he know?”
One fan wrote about Timber: “Look at Timber.”
Another replied: “I thought I was the only one who saw this. He knows the competition is getting tougher.”
Arsenal now have several options in defence. Last season, their defence was the best in the Premier League, conceding just 29 goals.
Arteta has largely stuck with his back four when available, with David Raya taking Aaron Ramsdale’s position in goal, but Calafiori could become the new first-choice left-back ahead of Zinchenko.
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This means that every player has a substitute: Takehiro Tomiyasu behind Ben White at right-back, Timber behind William Saliba and Kiwior behind Gabriel Magalhaes.
And as the Gunners plot a way to topple Manchester City at the top of the table, Arteta will need all the help he can get.
Calafiori could be the answer after Zinchenko came under fire at times during the season, with the 22-year-old giving a brief speech at his first meeting with the team.
He said: “Of course I’m delighted to be here. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I hope we achieve something great this year. Just that, thank you.”
After the meeting ended, Arteta gave Calafiori a big hug and the full-back said: “Is this real?”
Arteta replied: “It’s real, it’s real.”
Arsenal’s transfer of Calafiori was held up by Bologna after a dispute with his former club Basel over the sell-on fee, and Arteta admitted he was frustrated.
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He said: “I’m very happy. It took a while – it was a player we had been watching for a year.
“Last year we were really short-staffed in the back line and asked so much of them. William Saliba, for example, played every minute in the Premier League and we feel we needed to be better protected.”
“We recognized him as a talent who can give us skills and qualities that will make us better. We are signing a player with enormous development potential.”
Arsenal’s next game is on Wednesday evening in a pre-season friendly against Liverpool at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Whether Calafiori will take part remains to be seen, but Arteta could give fans a little insight into their latest signing.
Mikel Arteta on Riccardo Calafiori
Arteta: “I’m very happy that we have Riccardo. As I said, it was very important to have that protection in the back line because of the problems we had, especially last year when Jurrien was injured.”
“This increases quality and competition and is very good for the team.”
“It was down to the numbers. We only had six defenders in the back line and at this level you really have to be lucky to get through the season like that.”
“Because William and Gabriel, for example, played almost every minute, we played over 50 percent more minutes than in the previous season. Whether we can do that consistently over the next three or four years is a big question mark.
“Of course you can’t just bet on that, it’s a big bet and we don’t want to take that bet.
“[He can play] both [left-back and centre-back]especially the way we want to play and how we want to develop our game models.
“He is a player who fits what we want.
“I spoke to him once or twice and knew the other things [teams being interested].
“I wasn’t really sure if we were going to make it or not, but he insisted: ‘Let me know when you’re ready. My bags are packed and I just want to come to Arsenal.’
“Those were his words and when you have that feeling that there’s someone so willing to join us and make us better and so determined, that’s something really powerful and as a club we should be really proud of that.”
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