The well-advertised need for a new striker at Arsenal after their failed January attempts to sign Dusan Vlahovic has sent the Italian media in a frenzy.
They are convinced the Gunners are very interested in Victor Osimhen, which would make some sense, but whether the London side will be ready to meet the reported asking price from Aurelio De Laurentiis at Napoli remains to be seen.
We say this because it appears the quoted fees are getting a bit out of hand, with it reported on Tuesday that Arsenal were ready to offer €80m for the Nigeria international.
That in itself was a big fee, but now we have Tuttosport claiming Mikel Arteta and co. are ready to go even further if they are asked.
The newspaper state that following ‘Insigne’s farewell and the concrete hypothesis that Newcastle or Arsenal bring €120m to the coffers for Osimhen’, then retaining Dries Mertens at the club would mean ‘having an experienced striker’ who is ‘very popular with the fans’.
Regardless from the fact the Gunners did spend a bit more money than usual last summer and were prepared to open the chequebook for Vlahovic in January, we simply can’t see them reaching that kind of fee for a player that isn’t called Erling Haaland.
Osimhen, with his 26 goals in 58 appearances for Napoli is good, but he’s not €120m good, and Edu Gaspar will know that.
