Arsenal warned £42m star could play for rival if Mikel Arteta decision continues

Arsenal have been warned that Riccardo Calafiori will play for other big clubs if he does not start under Mikel Arteta. Injuries and the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly have limited the Italian to only nine Premier League starts this season.

Calafiori was a £42million summer arrival to huge fanfare at the Emirates Stadium in the summer. His performances for Italy at Euro 2024 increased the excitement in north London.

While it is early in the 22-year-old’s Arsenal career, his first season has not entirely gone to plan. Separate knee injuries kept Calafiori out for the best part of two months up to late December. He subsequently suffered a muscular problem in January which saw him miss a further three games.

The 18-year-old Lewis-Skelly has shone at left-back for Arsenal, limiting Calafiori’s potential to make an impact when he has been fit. AC Milan icon Massimo Ambrosini has warned the Gunners that Calafiori would enjoy success playing for top teams - potentially Arsenal’s big Premier League and European rivals - if he leaves over a lack of game time.

"Riccardo Calafiori had a really big opportunity when he joined Arsenal, for himself, for the club and for Bologna who got a lot of money,” Ambrosini told Bet365.

“He is a very modern player and I’m sure Mikel Arteta really likes that about him, he can play on the left hand side of defence and in the middle. Even if he doesn’t start in every game for Arsenal, he will be playing for big clubs from now until the end of his career."

Calafiori started his first Premier League game in five matches in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against West Ham on Saturday. He will likely begin Wednesday’s visit to Nottingham Forest after substitute Lewis-Skelly was sent off against the Hammers.

Lewis-Skelly will serve a one-match ban after hauling down Mohammed Kudus and receiving his second red card of the season - albeit the first against Wolves in January was later overturned.

Arsenal are now 11 behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after suffering a surprise loss at the Emirates Stadium. They play a game more than the Reds before the end of the season, but Arteta now accepts that his side have no control over the title race.

"It's not in our hands,” the Spaniard said. "I'm really, really annoyed with the things that are in our hands – which is the performance and the result.

"[We were] nowhere near the levels that we have to hit to have the opportunity to win a Premier league. I'm very much responsible for that, so I'm very, very angry."