Having lost Thiago Motta, Bologna now aims to defend their jewels. The idea of the rossoblù management is to try to confirm a large part of the group that achieved the feat of qualifying for the Champions League, as confirmed by CEO Claudio Fenucci during the hours of the big party: “We will do everything to keep them here with us.” There are two hottest topics of the summer transfer market and only one truly depends on the will and strength of Bologna.
Juve’s eyes are on Calafiori
The name on which the resistance in Casteldebole will focus is that of Riccardo Calafiori, capable of consecrating himself as one of the best defenders in the championship (best player of Serie A in May) and to earn, together with his partner Riccardo Orsolini, the call of the Italian coach Spalletti in the preliminary list of thirty athletes who will lead to the call-ups for the European Championship. It is Juventus who desire Calafiori more than anyone as a welcome gift for Motta but the Bolognese management wants to avoid a double rape. The valuation given to the defender is high: at least 40 million euros. It couldn’t be otherwise given that 40% will be paid to Basel, the Swiss club from which he was purchased last summer.
Napoli’s interest in Skorupski
If Bologna tries in every way to keep Calafiori, they will be unable to do almost nothing to convince striker Joshua Zirkzee that he is master of his own destiny. In the contract stipulated in 2022 at the time of his purchase from Bayern, there is a clause that expires at the end of July and allows a series of welcome companies to take over his contract for 40 million. The list of suitors is long (Milan, Juventus, Inter and also very important foreign teams starting with Arsenal) and even in this case there is a percentage of 45% of the capital gain to be passed on to the Germans. In the last few hours a new temptation has also arisen Napoli’s interest in goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski whose contract expires in 2025 (although there is an annual renewal clause linked to attendance in the next season). However, his sale should not accelerate the promotion of Federico Ravaglia from Bologna but lead to the inclusion of a new owner.
A summer in the trenches for Bologna
To confirm some of the protagonists of the ride, however, it will also be necessary to spend a lot given that the redemptions of the winger Alexis Saelemaekers (from Milan) and the full-back Victor Kristiansen (from Leicester) cost 10 and 15 million respectively, figures that Bologna is trying to lower. The transfer sirens could instead go off for the elegant defender Jhon Lucumi, a Colombian who is particularly popular with Cholo Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. For Bologna it promises to be a summer spent in the trenches in defense of his jewels but for some the exit of Thiago Motta even corresponds to a hope of rebirth: it is the 25-year-old Swedish winger Jesper Karlsson, who ended up on the fringes of the rotations despite the 11 million spent to buy him last August from ‘Az Alkmaar.
