Bologna refuse to give up on their attempts to keep Juventus primary target | OneFootball

Bologna are reportedly desperate to keep Riccardo Calafiori at the Renato Dall’Ara amidst great interest from Juventus.

The 22-year-old was one of the main breakout stars in a campaign that culminated with the Emilians’ historic qualification to the Champions League.

The Italian is a youth product of Roma who started his career as a left-back, but transitioned into a ball-playing central defender under the tutelage of Thiago Motta last season.

So after being appointed as new Juventus manager, the 41-year-old would love to bring Calafiori along with him.

Hence, the Bianconeri management has identified the Italy international as their primary target to strengthen their backline.

But according to La Gazzetta dello Sport via IlBianonero, snathing the defender’s services won’t be a straightforward task for the Old Lady.

As the source explains, Bologna are hellbent on resisting Juve’s charge and keeping Calafiori at the club for at least another year.

The pink newspaper reveals that this is a common objective for Rossoblu directors Claudio Fenucci, Gianluca Sartori and Marco Di Vaio.

Hence, the Emilians will offer Calafiori a new contract that would raise his salary to 2 million euros per year, which is the club’s ceiling.

Moreover, new Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano believes he can convince the player to stay put, especially with the club set to play Champions League football next season.

Bologna believe they would be able to sell the Italy international for even higher figures next summer.

The Roman’s market is circa 25 million euros, but his positive performances at Euro 2024 could see this figure rise.

Calafiori was one of the few bright spots in Italy’s miserable title defense.