You should be jealous of Arsenal for signing Ricardo Calafori because he is the poster child for the modern defender. He is Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Oleksander Zinchenko, and Jakub Kiwior combined into one. Versatility is in because rotation is a must.

He can play in the center of defense, wide left as a fullback, inverting into midfield, starting in the midfield, running through the channels, and overlapping wide. He is tall but nimble, not awkward on the ball, and fast. I’m sure he can play on the right side of the defense. Top teams need multiple Calafiori’s.

Calafori on who he models his game after:

John Stones is my reference. His style of play is closest to mine. It’s not off the cuff when I go into midfield. It’s following the guidelines of the coach.

This versatility, the ability to play anywhere is what will be needed if teams want to break free from the zonal approach. He shouldn’t be shackled to one position. To get everything out of him, you have to let him move where he wants to move. He needs to be allowed to play “off the cuff.”

Midfielders that can play as defenders or fullbacks, central defenders that can play as midfielders or fullbacks, wingers that can play as fullbacks or center-forwards, fullbacks that can play as wingers or midfielders—this should be where the game in Europe is headed again, in my opinion.

Everyone except for the goalkeeper will need to play in at least two positions. That helps when dealing with the congested schedule, but it will allow teams to be unpredictable.

Gabriel Martinelli should be protecting him at all costs because the Italian will be providing him the same service Bukayo Saka receives from Ben White on the right wing, something that was missing on the left wing.

Mikel Arteta on if he will play as a center-back or left-back:

Both positions, especially the way we want to play and the way we want to evolve in our game models. He is a player who is going to fit into what we want.

I really wanted to see him play again for Thiago Motta at Juventus because he brought that out of him. He played for Motta as a left center-back at Bologna. Now the question is, will Arteta allow him to show that spontaneity that got him signed, or will he play a more reserved role?