Both Arsenal and Chelsea are seeking to reinforce their rosters prior to the closure of the summer transfer period. The two Premier League sides will monitor Napoli’s movements attentively in the days ahead, with each hoping to transfer one of their forwards to the Italian club.
The Italian outfit will however need to release an existing player before any incoming transfer can be finalised.
Napoli recently said goodbye to Romelu Lukaku, offloading him to Fenerbahce for roughly £5million and concluding an underwhelming two-year stint. The Belgian marksman managed just five top-flight appearances owing to injury and fitness concerns.
Consequently, Napoli are hunting for an alternative centre-forward, with various names already under consideration. Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus has featured in speculation regarding a switch to the Serie A side throughout the current window.
Jesus has found himself marginalised in north London recently, with Viktor Gyokeres’ arrival a year ago pushing him further down the selection hierarchy under Mikel Arteta.
As such, a potential exit prior to the September 1 cutoff seems increasingly plausible. Yet Jesus is not the sole player to have captured Napoli’s interest recently.
Chelsea have similarly fielded an approach for Nicolas Jackson. The Senegalese marksman remains tied to Stamford Bridge until 2033, yet appears to have no clear route into the starting eleven.
After a temporary spell at Bayern Munich last term, Jackson has returned to west London – once again out of contention, though this time under Xabi Alonso rather than Enzo Maresca, who has since moved on to Manchester City.
Chelsea are anticipated to persist with Joao Pedro as their primary attacking option, with the forward recently allocated the No. 9 jersey previously belonging to Liam Delap.
With these associations, both Arsenal and Chelsea will be eager to arrange a transaction with Napoli shortly to shift surplus players and potentially secure fresh recruits.
Nonetheless, the top-flight heavyweights must wait for Napoli to shift another player to make room for a replacement striker.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Noa Lang could be the individual to create space within Napoli’s squad.
Reports suggest Atalanta are hopeful of arranging a loan deal for the Dutch winger, which would grant Napoli both monetary leeway and roster availability to assess their choices among Jesus, Jackson and Manchester United attacker Joshua Zirkzee.