Arsenal missed out on summer move for Napoli hitman

Rob McCarthy
Dries Mertens: A summer target for Manchester United

Dries Mertens: A summer target for Manchester United

It has been revealed that Arsenal missed out on move for Napoli and Belgium forward Dries Mertens in the summer transfer window.

The Gunners were mainly chasing wide attacking players throughout the summer, with Leicester star Riyad Mahrez and Juventus’ Juan Cuadrado said to be their main targets to potentially replace Alexis Sanchez.

However, sources at Calciomercato claim that Wenger also wanted to bring 30-year-old Mertens to the Emirates Stadium.

The Belgian, however, penned a contract extension with the Serie A side at the end of last season, which meant the Gunners did not even get as far as negotiating for the player.

Mertens is expected to up for grabs again though next summer after Napoli inserted a €30million release clause in his new contract – news which has also alerted Liverpool and Manchester United, who have also shown previous interest in the former PSV star.