Why Watford makes sense for Bove and how Calafiori is involved

Edoardo Bove is close to formally completing his transfer to Watford, and will reunite with his close friend and current Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori once the deal goes through. Here is a look back at their friendship and the role that Calafiori has had to play in Bove’s move to England. 

According to reports from various outlets in Italy and the UK, Bove is having his medical with Watford on Monday ahead of a move to Vicarage Road on a free transfer. 

Bove has recently terminated his contract with his boyhood club, Roma, as he is currently unable to play for the Giallorossi under Italian law. 

Just over a year ago, at the beginning of December 2024, Bove was taken ill during a Serie A match between Fiorentina and Inter when he was on loan with the Viola from Roma. 

It was later confirmed that his heart had stopped beating, which caused him to collapse on the pitch. He was rushed to hospital and was later fitted with a defibrillator to monitor and regulate his heartbeat. Under the current rules, however, this prevents him from playing professionally in Italy. 

Having a defibrillator does not prevent Bove from playing in the UK, though. This is a similar situation to the one that saw Christian Eriksen leave Inter after suffering a cardiac arrest at EURO 2020, before going on to join Brentford in the Premier League. 

Watford have been under Italian ownership since 2012, when Giampaolo Pozzo took over the club from Laurence Bassini. Ownership of the club was transferred over to Pozzo’s son, Gino in 2014. 

The Pozzo family are also long-term owners of Serie A side Udinese, and several players, including Matej Vydra, Gerard Deulofeu, Roberto Pereyra, Christian Kabasele, Stefano Okaka and Ken Sema are among the long list to have played for both sides over the last decade.

Watford’s current sporting director is former Serie A journeyman Valon Behrami, who also moved from Watford to Udinese in 2017, and turned out for the likes of Genoa, Hellas Verona, Lazio, Fiorentina and Napoli during his playing days. 

Watford currently find themselves in eighth place in the EFL Championship, flirting with the play-off positions, and could jump into the top six should they win the game that they currently have in hand. 

This situation provides Bove with a competitive challenge on his return to professional football, albeit at a slightly lower level than what he had been used to in the early stages of his career: He had been a regular in both the Conference and Europa League during his time with Roma and Fiorentina. 

Playing for Watford also means that Bove will be nearby to one of his oldest and closest friends, Italy international Calafiori

Reports from the Watford Observer on Monday claim that Calafiori has played a key role in Bove’s decision to join The Hornets. 

Bove and Calafiori were both born in Rome, are the same age and spent around a decade playing in the same youth sides for both Roma and Italy. 

Calafiori has sent several public messages of support to Bove since his troubling ordeal while on loan at Fiorentina 13 months ago. Most recently, when Bove announced that he had terminated his contract with Roma, Calafiori was quick to comment: “We’ll see you very soon.” 

Geographically, Bove and Calafiori will be extremely close by to one another, given that Watford and Arsenal’s training grounds are literally next door to one another. 

Bove is now set to become the third Italian player in the EFL Championship this season, joining Leicester City’s Caleb Okoli and Bristol City teenager Ephraim Yeboah.

Among the Italians currently based in England are Calafiori, Sandro Tonali, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Federico Chiesa, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Michael Kayode, Giovanni Leoni, Wilfried Gnonto, Nicolo Savona and Diego Coppola.