Fabio Capello sees shades of a generation-defining defender in Calafiori

Riccardo Calafiori is having an incredible time with Arsenal this season. He was already great last year, but his progress and form kept getting hindered by injury troubles all season.

This time around, though, he has started off exceptionally well, and has easily become one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.

Calafiori did not start Arsenal's big game against Bayern Munich, but he was forced to come on for Myles Lewis-Skelly due to Lennart Karl being so good against the youngster.

Calafiori simply put his foot down and used his physicality really well to stop Karl from creating any more danger.

That wasn't all, though. Calafiori also went on to get an assist for Arsenal's goal to truly create an incredible impact on the game in a very short amount of time.

Honestly, credit to Mikel Arteta for managing the game as well as he did. Two of his substitutions in Calafiori and Noni Madueke were just brilliant decisions, and that is what helped them see out the win.

Fabio Capello sees shades of a generation-defining defender in Calafiori

After the game, legendary manager Fabio Capello was asked about Riccardo Calafiori, and he had excellent things to say. He also happened to mention Calafiori's name next to an all-time great, Sergio Ramos.

He said: “Calafiori is like a young Sergio Ramos, only left-footed…the only thing is that Ramos played on the right, he had great quality, pressed well and improved.

"I’d put Calafiori in front of the back four, he’d be like Marcel Desailly, only with more quality on the ball.”

Well, not just Ramos either; Capello also sees shades of Desailly in the Italian defender. These are bold claims, and quite frankly, a little unexpected.

But they are definitely not bad claims. Ramos was an era-defining centre-back who transitioned from being a left-back into a central role early in his career. Then, he became one of the greatest centre-backs in the history of the sport.

While Calafiori may not be as good, there are genuine similarities between the two players.

Calafiori is a ball-heavy centre-back, who is very good in escaping press, as well as great to press in the first place. His challenges are well-timed, and has the same knack to improve as much as possible as the Spanish icon.

Even Desailly, who played as a six many times, can be considered someone that Calafiori can potentially replicate at some point. The Italian is incredible with the ball at his feet, and his passing range is already very good.

It won't be a bad idea to test out in case they face a one-off shortage of pivots in the team.