Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori drops Serie A exit bombshell: 'I'd like to return sooner or later'

Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has revealed his desire to return back to Italy.

The 23-year-old started the season in blistering form for the Gunners after an injury-hit debut campaign in N5, edging Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the team and becoming a part of the best defence in the Premier League this season.

But after starting every single Premier League game up until December for Arsenal, Calafiori has been a bit-part player since – and now, he has spoken out about his desire to return back to Serie A.

Riccardo Calafiori wants to leave Arsenal… “sooner or later”

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Italians have had mixed success over the years in the Premier League, with very few staying in England for a sustained period of time – thanks, in part, to the strength of Serie A during the Azzurri's heyday of the 1990s and 2000s.

As calcio has declined, however, more and more Italians have sought moves abroad: and right now, Calafiori – ranked at no.6 in FourFourTwo's list of the best left-backs in the world right now – is one of a contingent of Premier League stars from Bel Paese that includes the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma at Manchester City, Federico Chiesa at Liverpool and Sandro Tonali at Newcastle United.

In an interview relayed by Italian outlet Calciomercato about his future beyond Arsenal, former Roma defender Calafiori has opened up about his desire to return to the Eternal City and his career up until this point, dropping telling hints about a potential exit from North London.

“I’d like to return to Roma sooner or later,” the left-back revealed, adding, “Obviously, we can’t plan our career now, but yes, I can imagine it.”

An academy graduate of the Giallorossi, Calafiori made 10 appearances in Serie A for the capital club before departing for Genoa on loan, and then leaving permanently in a left-field move that saw him move to Basel for a season: there, he impressed enough to earn a transfer to Bologna, helping Thiago Motta's side into the Champions League, before Arsenal snapped him up.

“For various reasons, I first went on loan and then they sold me,” Calafiori continued. “It definitely didn’t go as I’d hoped, for several reasons. Returning also to celebrate under the Curva Sud? That’s also why.”

FourFourTwo understands that Arsenal have no immediate plans to sell Calafiori with Arteta a staunch backer of the Italian, even during his tougher times with injury – but with the club likely to sell first-team stars this summer, they may receive interest for the Azzurri international.

Regardless of Calafiori's interest in returning to Roma though, his former club are unlikely to have the capital that it would take to get him out of the Emirates Stadium – and with huge interest in his signature when he moved in 2024, there could be other suitors interested in a move, should he leave London.

FourFourTwo understands that Real Madrid were the big hitters interested in signing the Italian when he originally left Bologna, with Arsenal pouncing quickly to secure the left-back to compete with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney – both of whom have now left the Gunners.

Calafiori is valued at €50 million by Transfermarkt. Arsenal travel to Brighton & Hove Albion this week as Premier League action continues.