Riccardo Calafiori
Active- Current or last club
- Arsenal
- Country (nationality)
- Italy
- League or competition
- Premier League
- Position
- Left-back * centre-back
- How is the religion known?
- Stated publicly by the player
- Last checked
- 7 October 2026
Calafiori had this to say during the Euros about any future transfers: “I am grateful to God for every opportunity and trust that He has a plan for me.”
We list a player’s religion only where they have spoken about it publicly or it has been reliably reported, and we link our sources. If something is wrong, or a player’s views have changed, please tell us and we will review it.
Table of Contents
What religion is Riccardo Calafiori?
Riccardo Calafiori is an Italian professional footballer who is a practicing Christian, having been raised in a traditional Italian Roman Catholic household. Calafiori has publicly spoken about his personal faith, stating during Euro 2024 that he is ‘grateful to God for every opportunity’ and trusts in His plans.
His religious upbringing is also closely tied to his early football roots in Rome, where he played his earliest youth soccer for A.S.D. Petriana, a club whose training grounds are located directly adjacent to the Vatican.
Calafiori plays as a defender for Premier League club Arsenal and the Italy national team. He began his senior career with Roma and has then played for Genoa, Basel, and Bologna. In July 2024, he joined Arsenal for an initial fee of £33.6 million, going on to win the Premier League title and the FA Community Shield with the club. Among his other achievements, Calafiori has won a Serie A Player of the Month award, earned a spot in the Serie A Team of the Year at the Gran Galà del Calcio, and secured an Arsenal Player of the Month honor. He has also represented Italy at various youth and senior levels, most notably playing at UEFA Euro 2024.
Early life
Riccardo Calafiori was born on 19 May 2002 in Rome, Italy, to Italian parents Massimo and Tiziana Calafiori. He was scouted by his boyhood club, Roma, at age eight and entered their youth system, progressing through the club’s development ranks over the subsequent decade. As a teenager, he overcame a potentially career-threatening knee injury to continue his footballing progression.
Calafiori signed his first professional contract with Roma in 2018 and won a domestic youth title with the club’s under-17 side during the 2017-18 season.
Club career
Calafiori made his senior professional debut for Roma on 1 August 2020, starting in a 3–1 away victory against Juventus in Serie A. Despite this early milestone, he featured sparingly for the first team, accumulating just 10 senior appearances across all competitions as he struggled to secure a permanent place in a settled defensive lineup. In January 2022, Roma loaned Calafiori to Genoa to gain regular top-flight minutes; however, his time there was limited to three appearances before he returned to the capital upon the loan’s conclusion on 30 June 2022.
On 31 August 2022, Calafiori completed a permanent transfer to Swiss Super League side FC Basel for a reported fee of €2.5 million, signing a three-year contract. He made 26 appearances in the Swiss Super League that season, plus further appearances in the Swiss Cup and UEFA Conference League, for 44 total games across all competitions, scoring one goal. His technical development and defensive consistency, particularly during the second half of the season, drew significant interest from clubs back in Italy.
Bologna
Bologna signed Calafiori in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of €4 million. Operating primarily as a left-sided centre-back within manager Thiago Motta’s fluid four-man defensive line, he experienced a breakout 2023–24 campaign. He recorded 2 goals and 5 assists while helping Bologna keep 15 clean sheets, playing a pivotal role as the club secured a historic, first-ever qualification for the modern UEFA Champions League. His commanding performances earned him the Serie A Player of the Month award for May 2024, and his rapidly rising profile resulted in his first senior call-up to the Italy national team.
Arsenal
On 29 July 2024, Riccardo Calafiori transferred to Arsenal from Bologna for an initial fee of £33.6 million, with the deal structured to potentially rise to £42 million through performance-related add-ons. He signed a five-year contract running until June 2029.
During his debut 2024–25 Premier League season, he made 19 appearances, recording two goals and one assist. He maintained this elite trajectory at the start of the 2025–26 season, where a return of one goal and two assists in his opening matches earned him a nomination for the Premier League Player of the Month award in August 2025.
On 19 May 2026, Arsenal won the Premier League title, making Calafiori only the third Italian player in football history to earn a Premier League winner’s medal, following Mario Balotelli in 2012 and Federico Chiesa in 2025. He carried this championship form into the following campaign; on 16 August 2026, Calafiori scored the fastest goal in FA Community Shield history, netting after just 23 seconds to help Arsenal defeat Manchester City 3–0 and win the trophy.
International career
Calafiori represented Italy at every youth level from under-15 through under-21. He earned his first senior call-up to the Italy national team in May 2024 ahead of UEFA Euro 2024, following a strong season with Bologna. He made his debut on 4 June 2024, coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute during a 0–0 friendly draw against Turkey.
Calafiori was included in Italy’s final 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024 and started all three group stage matches. In November 2025, Calafiori was called up for Italy’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway but withdrew from the squad on 15 November due to a hip injury, returning to Arsenal for assessment.
Sources
- Instagram Post (opens in a new tab) Dunamis Voices
Sources are linked so you can check each claim yourself. Beliefs and public statements can change, so please check the source for the latest.
