Napoli want stop-gap from Chelsea before ambitious bid to sign Arsenal starter

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Napoli have set their sets on Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney after missing out on the defender in August 2019, claims a report.

Arsenal landed the boyhood Celtic fans from the SPFL side for £25m 18 months ago and he is starting to show his worth at The Emirates.

After shaking off some niggling injuries the 23-year-old has been an influential member of Mikel Arteta’s defence this term.

Tierney has missed just one Premier League game this season and scored a brilliant goal in the recent win over West Brom.

That goal had Mikel Arteta raving at full-time.

“The first goal, the action from Kieran Tierney was terrific and great combinations for the second. Great attacking play today,” said the boss.

Tierney is under contract until 2024, but the The Telegraph report that Napoli are desperate to sign the left-back.

The Serie A side missed out on the Douglas-born defender in 2019, but they have monitored his progress and remain interested.

 

 

The report claims Tierney is a “long-term” target and so any move for the player this move looks very unlikely. They will instead try and land Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri on a six-month loan.

That deal would cover them until the summer and then Napoli will likely make a concerted effort to lure him to Italy.

Arteta has plan to help Pepe

Meanwhile, Arteta is determined to help Nicolas Pepe become a success at Arsenal and has make his thoughts clear about what the club’s record signing needs to do in the coming months.

The attacker joined in the summer of 2019 from Lille for a £72million fee. He has produced infrequent moments of quality, but a lack of consistency has impacted his time at the Emirates.

 

Despite criticism from pundits, Pepe did manage eight goals during his debut campaign. But Arteta is adamant he can help the Ivory Coast international kick on. That’s despite his recent sending off at Leeds for an act of foolishness.

“We need to help him to (succeed),” Arteta said. “In order to do that he needs minutes, he needs consistency in the team. When he has that, he needs to show he is capable of doing it.

“Let’s see how the next few months develop.”

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