Calafiori reflects on early Roma and Mourinho disappointments: ‘I wasn’t happy’
Italy international and Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has opened up about the disappointments that he experienced in the early days of his professional career with Roma and the journey that led him to joining Mike Arteta’s table-topping Premier League hopefuls: ‘It was a complicated situation’.
Calafiori reflects on early stages of his career: ‘Everything was fine during my first year …’
Calafiori is playing a key role in Arsenal’s impressive 2025-26 campaign, in which they lead the Premier League table and are among the favourites to lift the Champions League at the end of the season.
The Italy international has made 17 starts from a possible 28 in the Premier League, despite missing a big chunk of games over the winter period due to a muscular injury.
Injuries have been a recurring theme for Calafiori throughout his career. His journey as a professional footballer was almost curtailed as a teenager due to a serious knee issue.
Speaking in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Calafiori discussed his early injury issue and the role that it played in his leaving his boyhood club, Roma.
“Everything was fine during my first year, I scored on my debut wearing the shirt of the team that I loved and after being told at 16 that I could not be a footballer due to a serious injury,” Calafiori told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I’m still a Roma fan,” he admitted. “Before, I was a die-hard. The only flaw is that it was during Covid, so there were no fans in the stadium, otherwise I would have gone straight over to celebrate in front of the Curva Sud.”
Despite being a passionate boyhood Roma supporter, Calafiori only managed to make 10 Serie A appearances for the Giallorossi before being moved on by Jose Mourinho.
“The transition from the Primavera to the first-team is very fast, you don’t even realise it,” said Calafiori.
“I started the first six games with Mourinho: That was also going well at the beginning, I was playing as a starter and getting some assists. After the 6-1 win over Bodo/Glimt, I didn’t play anymore and wanted more.
“I went to Genoa on loan. It was a complicated situation and I only made three appearances, one of which was as a starter. I did worse than before and I didn’t understand why.
“Inside, I never resigned, but that thought stayed in my head. I was really down at that point. Roma won the Conference League and the guys who played in my place did very well, so there was no more space for me.
“Then, Roma sold me to Basel and I wasn’t happy at first, but when I accepted the gact that I had to take a step back, I realised that it would be the right place for me. For a young man, it was perfect to find continuity there.”
Fortunately for Calafiori, his time in Switzerland with Basel was short-lived, lasting just one season before being brought back to Serie A by Bologna, where he would go on to help the team secure an historic spot in the Champions League.
“My eyes still light up when I talk about Bologna. We’re not just talking about the football, but things on a human level as well. What I experienced and what we experienced in Bologna was incredible, but how could you say no to the Premier League?”