Arsenal have suffered another serious injury worry after defender Riccardo Calafiori had a knee problem in Italy's 1-2 loss to Germany. The left-back slipped and fell in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-final.
Arsenal were worried about their star as Calafiori's right foot sloped down before landing on his left knee. The 22-year-old player appeared to be in pain when keeping the affected area tight and lying on the pitch for a while.
Calafiori tried his best to fight for the rest of the match. Newcastle star Sandro Tonali opened the scoring for Italy, before Germany came back to win thanks to Tim Kleindienst and Leon Goretzka.
Italy coach Luciano Spalletti admitted Calafiori "feels something strange" and will conduct a knee check to see the severity of the injury.
"We still don't know if he is injured. Calafiori felt something strange in his knee but we still don't know" - said the head coach of the Italian team.
Calafiori himself was asked to update the situation after the match, but the former Bologna defender refused to reveal too much and said he still did not know anything. The defender has struggled with knee problems in the 2024-25 season after joining Arsenal.
Calafiori was sidelined for a week in September last year due to a calf injury. And another time in late October with a knee injury.
The Italian defender had another knee problem in December last year and was out for two weeks. At the beginning of January this year, Calafiori was also absent for 10 days due to muscle problems and caused coach Mikel Arteta to worry many times.
The defender only joined Arsenal last summer after signing for around £42 million. So far, Calafiori has made a strong impression under Arteta.
Calafiori has played a total of 26 matches, scoring 3 goals and assisting 2 times, showing the necessary qualities at left-back. However, he has only started 11 times this season, which shows worrying physical problems.
The 22-year-old has been used alternately with teenage star Myles Lewis-Skelly at Arsenal's left-back position in the past few weeks. Obviously, if he does not improve his injury and fitness soon, Calafiori will lose the starting position to Lewis-Skelly.
