Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori's Absence From Arsenal's Preseason Game Against Bayer Leverkusen Explained

Written By Albert Echatah

Arsenal are ‘slowly’ easing Riccardo Calafiori into life at the North London based club, according to Mikel Arteta, which explains why the defender missed the Arsenal’s preseason triumph over Bayer Leverkusen.

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With Calafiori’s official announcement of his €50 million (£42.1 million) move from Serie A team Bologna last month, Arsenal officially ended weeks of uncertainty.

After David Raya permanently switched from Brentford, the highly regarded Italy international—who made an impression at the European Championship this summer—became Arsenal’s second addition of the transfer window. Arsenal’s pursuit of Calafiori was aided by his versatility, as the 22-year-old was at ease playing both left and centre defence.

Fans of Arsenal have not yet seen Calafiori play in their colours, though, as the former Bologna player missed both this evening’s game against Leverkusen and the club’s most recent friendly with Liverpool.

Granit Xhaka made his first appearance back in north London since his departure as the Gunners won 4-1 in the Emirates Cup with to goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz.

In his post-match press conference, Arteta disclosed that Timber had been experiencing difficulties with his foot during the build-up. Timber was not the only one who missed the game.

‘With Jurrien, he had a little discomfort in his feet in the last few days,’ Arteta told reporters shortly after the final whistle.

‘Obviously, with the amount of time that he’s been out, we didn’t want to take any risks with him.’

The head coach of Arsenal also mentioned: ‘In regards to Riccardo, so much has happened to him in one week. He’s come in to a new environment, completely different methodology, different training, and are managing him.

‘We want to do it slowly to get him in the best possible way so hopefully on Sunday he will be available to play some minutes.’

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