Arsenal defender William Saliba had high praise for new summer signing Riccardo Calafiori, who made his much-anticipated debut against Lyon. Calafiori, who joined Arsenal two weeks ago, had been held back from earlier friendlies by manager Mikel Arteta to ensure he had enough time to adjust to his new team.
Calafiori entered the match as a substitute in the 64th minute, replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko at left back. The Italian looked confident in possession and displayed excellent work rate off the ball. The 22-year-old also played as a center-back, with exciting youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly moving to left back after coming on.
It was a promising debut for Calafiori in a game that saw Arsenal retain the Emirates Cup by defeating Lyon 2-0, with set-piece goals from center-back duo Saliba and Gabriel.
Saliba impressed with Calafiori’s potential
Following the match, Saliba expressed his delight at Calafiori’s performance and his potential.
“Yeah, I’m so happy for him,” said Saliba. “I think it’s only the beginning; he’s a really good player, young as well. We’re so happy to have him with us and I hope he’ll have a really good season with us.”
MUST READ: How could Arsenal lineup against Wolverhampton Wanderers?
Calafiori’s 30min preseason cameo 🇮🇹🔴👇
(🎥@kimmoFC)
pic.twitter.com/CLhkE4sw4z— Italy Focus 🇮🇹 (@theitalyfocus) August 12, 2024
Gunners clinical with set pieces
MUST READ: Bayern Munch ace is training alone amid rising interest from English giants Arsenal
The French international was also pleased with how dominant the Gunners were against Lyon, particularly pleased with how they capitalized on their set piece opportunities.
“Sometimes it’s like this, we have to win the games on set-pieces and we did so well today,” the defender said. “After last season, we have to be so good on set-pieces, and we started well today. We have to keep going like this because we can win a lot of games on set-pieces.”
“I’m happy because I think we played well,” he added. “It wasn’t easy because it was so hot today and they were not bad; we played against a good team. We did our job, and of course, we could have scored more goals. It’s good for us to be prepared for next week against Wolves.”
