Arteta, who has known Motta since the age of 15 at Barcelona's renowned La Masia academy, admitted that Calafiori had caught his eye over a year ago when watching Bologna.
The centre-back, who is also capable of playing as a left-back, featured 33 times for i Rossoblu, scoring twice and providing five assists last season.
Calafiori made his debut for Arsenal in the pre-season Emirates Cup clash against Olympique Lyonnais, coming on as a left-back and has since featured twice as a substitute in the Premier League.
In an interview with the Chinese platform iQIYI, Mikel Arteta discussed in further depth about his new £42 million defender.
The Spaniard suggested that the Italian defender's desire to play for the Gunners, amid interest from a wide range of clubs, made it an amicable deal to proceed with.
"It was [an easy conversation]. He made it really easy. We believed that because there were other clubs so we had to convince him. And he said, "No no no, I just want to play for Arsenal." So it was great," Arteta said.
"What I like about him is that he's a warrior. He's someone with such courage, he's so determined, he plays for every ball. He plays for Italy, he makes his debut. It's unbelievable the way he plays. I love those players that take ownership and they make big decisions in games and he is one of those."
Having excelled for Bologna, the defender was called up to the senior squad for the first time in May 2024. His debut on June 4 was only 11 days before he featured again, this time as a starter in Italy's opening match of the Euros against Albania.
Donning slicked, long 'Maldini-esque' hair, many viewers frantically turned to Google to research the Bologna man. He was becoming a man in high demand quickly, with some even drawing comparisons to the iconic Paolo Maldini.
Calafiori started to become recognised in the famous Italian Azzuri blue throughout the tournament, but the 22-year-old had been on Arsenal's radar for more than a year.
He had also taken an incognito trip down to North London in January. The Italian defender watched on as Arsenal piled five past Crystal Palace in style at the Emirates Stadium, courtesy of a goal from Leandro Trossard and braces from Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli.
"That was a year ago when I started watching him and he caught my eye," Arteta concedes. It wasn't only his skill, it was his body language, his energy, his presence, how he was reacting to certain contexts in games and I started to follow him more and more.
"I got to know him and I really like his personality. He was mad to join us. He didn't want to talk about anything that wasn't Arsenal. And when you see a player of that quality and that personality so willing to join us, we had no doubts that it was a player for us."
While Riccardo Calafiori hasn't broken into the starting XI yet, rotation between himself, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jurrien Timber will be crucial across the duration of the season.
Arteta has already switched between Zinchenko and Timber, with Calafiori gradually being introduced to the new setup.
The demanding schedule of the Champions League, starting with an away trip to Atalanta on September 19, means that Arsenal will need to be able to call on all their players to surpass expectations once again.
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