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Arsenal eyeing £50m defender as part of double summer swoop – report

By on February 17, 2018

According to a report in The Sun, Arsenal are eyeing summer swoops for Napoli duo Kalidou Koulibaly and Lorenzo Insigne after stepping-up their interest in the pair this week.

Arsene Wenger is expected to continue his squad overhaul this summer as we face a second consecutive season without Champions League football after falling eight points adrift of the top four.

A new powerful centre-back is almost certainly going to be on the agenda as Per Mertesacker will retire in June while a long-term replacement for Laurent Koscielny is also needed.

We’ve been linked with a whole host of names in recent months but the Sun are citing a report from Calcio Mercato that claims Napoli star Koulibaly is now firmly on Wenger’s radar.

The Senegalese international has developed in to one of the best central defenders in Europe since joining Napoli in 2014 and the newspaper says he’s valued at around £50m.

That’s obviously a lot of money for a defender but it’s the price we’re going to have to pay for a world class player and Koulibaly would be worth it if he helped shore up our leaky back-line.

Any move for the 26-year-old could be part of a double swoop on Napoli as the report claims we’re also interested in Insigne as Wenger looks to further strengthen his attacking options.

We signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January but we still need more depth in the squad and Insigne has been one of the best attackers in Italian football over the past few years.

The Italian international is predominantly a right winger but he can play anywhere across the attacking midfield positions so he’d be an excellent addition to the squad.

The Sun claims that Arsenal representatives were in the stands to watch both Insigne and Koulibaly during Napoli’s Europa League clash with RB Leipzig on Thursday night so it seems like we’re keeping a close eye on the pair ahead of the summer.

No doubt Napoli will do all they can to keep hold of their key men but I’d love to see us make serious moves to try and sign Insigne and Koulibaly as they’d be superb signings if we could lure them to the Emirates.