Bid worth €25m to seal Arsenal deal with Napoli, as Arteta and Edu’s hard-line stance pays off

Bid worth €25m to seal Arsenal deal with Napoli, as Arteta and Edu’s hard-line stance pays off

Napoli are actively working on an Arsenal raid the Gunners are prepared to give the green light to, and the structure of the deal will allow Mikel Arteta to make a signing of his own in January, per reports.

Arsenal are embroiled in a genuine title challenge for the second straight season. The Gunners tailed off towards the back end of the previous campaign, though their fans will hope lessons have been learned.

Arsenal haven’t been at their fluid best going forward this term. But through the addition of Declan Rice, they have looked a more compact unit and tougher to break down.

The north London club dipped into the January market last year in an attempt to reinforce their title charge. Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho and Leandro Trossard all arrived.

But fast forward to the present day and next month’s winter window could see Kiwior depart just one year after his arrival.

The Polish centre-half, 23, cost £21m to sign from Italian side Spezia. The left-footer provided depth at left centre-half, though due to the presence of Gabriel Magalhaes, has struggled to make an impact.

Kiwior’s seven Premier League appearances this season have totalled just 248 minutes of action. Four of his outings have come late in games as Arsenal attempted to see out a lead.

Arsenal’s budget for the upcoming transfer window is understood to be limited. Indeed, the reason why David Raya arrived on loan with an option to buy rather than outright was due to Arsenal running close to Financial Fair Play boundaries.

But with a new central midfielder and striker in Arsenal’s sights, player sales are required to top up the war chest.

Napoli prepared to do what AC Milan aren’t

Kiwior is understood to be on the chopping block and AC Milan have shown interest in signing the defender on loan. A loan deal would do little to aid Arsenal’s efforts regarding new signings next month.

Now, according to Italian newspaper Il Mattino, Napoli have usurped Milan and are prepared to sign Kiwior outright.

As cited by TuttoMercatoWeb, it’s claimed Kiwior has been installed on Napoli’s wanted list for the winter window and Arsenal have relayed their asking price of €25m.

€25m is roughly the same sort of figure Arsenal paid when signing Kiwior from Spezia, meaning they’ll break even in the would-be deal.

That price tag is labelled ‘an important but not unsurpassable figure for Napoli’ who are ‘working to try to land the coup’.

It’s important to note Napoli haven’t put all of their eggs in the Kiwior basket and count Clement Lenglet as a viable alternative.

The Frenchman is currently on loan at Aston Villa from Barcelona, though is yet to make a single league appearances this term.

With Lenglet in the back of Napoli’s mind, it stands to reason they’ll attempt to bring Arsenal’s asking price down.

Nonetheless, Kiwior would certainly represent the sexier target for Napoli given he’s five years younger, would be joining outright and was a stand-out in Italy when at Spezia.

Arsenal’s insistence they wait for a permanent sale and not be drawn into a loan agreement should serve their own January ambitions well.