According to reports, Arsenal have responded to Riccardo Calafiori being made Real Madrid’s ‘dream’ signing for Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho returned to Real Madrid for a second spell as manager ahead of this season, and he has been backed heavily in the transfer market.

Real Madrid invested around £200m on summer signings as they landed Marc Cucurella, Yan Diomande, Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries.

This has helped Real Madrid to improve under Mourinho after a disappointing couple of seasons, but they are arguably still below Barcelona, PSG and potentially others in the power ranking of Europe’s top teams.

This could include Arsenal, who fell short to PSG in last season’s Champions League final.

Arsenal are certainly Europe’s best defensive side, and Real Madrid are reportedly looking to raid the Gunners to sign left-back Calafiori.

Riccardo Calafiori emerges as Real Madrid’s ‘dream’ signing

Our colleagues at TEAMtalk are reporting that Real Madrid want to further improve their defence in upcoming transfer windows and have made Calafiori the ‘outstanding left-back option’ and ‘dream’ signing for Mourinho.

Calafiori is said to be preferred to Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol and Real Madrid are ‘preparing’ a move for the Arsenal star.

However, Arsenal’s response is that they ‘will not let Calafiori leave easily’ and they intend to make it ‘categorically clear that the Italian is strictly not for sale’.

It is also claimed that Arsenal intend to turn to getting Calafiori, whose current deal expires in 2029, to sign a new contract once deals for three other players are finalised.

The report explains:

‘TEAMtalk understands that Arsenal are planning to address Calafiori’s contract in 2027, when a new deal for the Italian is on their agenda. The club’s immediate priority is to finalise extensions for Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, with those negotiations understood to be advancing.’

‘Once those matters have been resolved, Arsenal are expected to turn their attention to Calafiori, whose performances have attracted the attention of one of Europe’s biggest clubs.’

Arsenal also have Piero Hincapie and Myles Lewis-Skelly as left-back options, but Calafiori is currently their first-choice option, and he would be a huge loss if he is lured to Real Madrid or elsewhere.