Napoli have made enquiries for two Premier League strikers, as alternatives to Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus.
Napoli are on the market to bolster their attacking options before the summer transfer window closes, with the priority being a replacement for Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku exit leaves Napoli seeking striker
The former Manchester United, Chelsea and Inter Milan striker sealed a £5.1million move to Fenerbahce last week, leaving a void for new manager Massimiliano Allegri to fill at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Jesus has been strongly linked with a move to Napoli and Standard Sport understands that Arsenal are open to selling the Brazilian and would want up to £20m.
Arteta explains Jesus omission
Mikel Arteta appeared to drop a major hint regarding Jesus’ future by leaving him out of the matchday squad for the Community Shield win over Manchester City, though insisted it was a “technical decision”.
“I've been trying to persuade the Premier League and the clubs to be able to extend the number of players that we can have, especially the outfield players in the squads because we play more and more games and the load is unreal, and not giving the chance to those players to be able to be here to participate because maybe it demands the qualities of one of those players and we don't have them available,” the Spaniard said.
“It’s just a shame so it's the most difficult part of the job but there's nothing to do with that, it's just a fact that we can bring 18 outfield players and we believe that for today's game these were the options that we needed, especially with the physical condition of certain players.”
Napoli explore alternatives
However, while it was reported that Napoli would step up their pursuit of the Arsenal No9 once Lukaku had been sold, that has not yet been the case.
In fact, the Italian club are now actively exploring the market with Gianluca Di Marzio reporting interest in Man United’s Joshua Zirkzee and Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson.
The former hasn’t quite settled at Old Trafford following his move from Bologna in July 2024, while Standard Sport have reported that the Blues would be willing to sanction the sale of Jackson for the right price.
