Arsenal failed in attempt to land £80m striker, claims chief

Mark Scott
Gonzalo Higuain: Was on Arsenal radar

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has said he received “requests” from Arsenal over the course of the summer to sign Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentine striker moved to Serie A rivals Juventus in a €90million deal which saw him become the fourth most-expensive transfer of all-time, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba.

Arsenal, however, were apparently not prepared to meet Napoli’s demands and eventually signed Lucas Perez from Deportivo la Coruna.

“I think we received some requests from Arsenal. Personally, I also received a request from Atletico Madrid,” Laurentiis told Standard Sport.

“But they didn’t put enough money on the table. We were not ready to sell him – for me Higuain was not for sale.”