Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has been sent home from Italy duty with an injury he suffered in a freak accident against France. Fears were raised when the defender stayed down after a bizarre tangle with Ousmane Dembele.
The French forward tumbled and caught Calafiori's calf, with the 22-year-old receiving medical treatment on the Parc de Princes pitch. He then hobbled off in what is likely to have raised alarm bells among Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff.
Italy boss Luciano Spalletti initially believed that he would have Calafiori available for their Nations League clash with Israel on Monday. He said: "We need to assess Riccardo but with our staff, we’ve a good chance to have him back with us for the next game."
However, the Italian Football Federation have confirmed that Calafiori has returned home and will not take part in their next game. It is likely that he will head straight back to Arsenal where he will be assessed by the club's medical staff.
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The Gunners completed a £33million deal to sign the centre-back from Bologna in the summer. His impressive performances for Italy at Euro 2024 caught the eye of some of Europe's top clubs.
But Arteta might now need to take caution and slowly integrate Calafiori into his team following the star's injury. Arsenal will hope that lightning has not struck twice after Jurrien Timber suffered a long-term injury just weeks after arriving from Ajax last summer.
Spalletti's initial optimism about Calafiori's fitness will be a boost to those in north London, though. The former Roma prospect has made two Premier League appearances for Arsenal but is yet to start, with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes preferred at centre-back and Oleksandr Zinchenko occupying the left-back role.
Calafiori was one of four new arrivals at Arsenal during the summer. He was the first of the quartet to complete a switch to the Premier League club, with Mikel Merino following him through the door in the final week of the window.
Arsenal then signed loanees Raheem Sterling and Neto in the final hours before the transfer deadline. Goalkeeper David Raya's loan from Brentford was also made permanent earlier in the summer for a fee of around £28m.
Arsenal have enjoyed a positive start to the season, winning seven points from their opening three matches. They were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton in their final outing prior to the September international break.
