Gunners have been tracking Argentinian star all summer long.
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Arsenal now risk losing out to Napoli in the race for prolific Real Madrid front man Gonzalo Higuain, according to reports in the Daily Express.
The Argentina international has been the subject of much interest all summer long from a number of big-name European clubs, although following Juventus’ recent decision to move for Manchester City striker Carlo Tevez instead, it had appeared as though the path had been cleared for the north London club to sign the 25-year-old themselves.
However, Gunners head coach Arsene Wenger has been stalling of late, with the Frenchman understood to be unwilling to raise his initial offer of £20 million for the centre forward so as to meet los Blancos’ 30m euros valuation of their player.
And now Arsenal face the very real prospect of missing out on Higuain altogether after Serie A outfit Napoli entered the race to win the Argentinian’s signature this summer, with the Naples-based side set to be cash rich now that Edinson Cavani has all but agreed to join Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain for £55m.
The Italians are said to be prepared to meet Madrid’s asking price of £26m in order to land Higuain, who has registered an eye-catching 122 goals and 46 assists for the Liga giants in just 266 matches overall, and that could now force Wenger to also match their bid if he still wants to also sign the attacker himself this summer.