Arsenal transfer news: Nabil Fekir and Dries Mertens on Gunners wishlist

Lyon could cash in on £50m-rated Fekir
while Arsenal and Man Utd target Napoli and Belgium striker
Mertens

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With the Arsenal manager in the final few weeks of his tenure at
the Emirates, the board are to make a move for the 24-year-old
Fekir having checked him out on a number of previous occasions. The
Sun claims that the Gunners have been on the tail of the France
international for three years but Wenger’s dithering has cost them
any chance of landing their man.

But with a new manager soon to be unveiled, Arsenal want
to welcome him with a few new faces, and Fekir is top of their
wishlist. Rated at £50m, the Lyon-born Fekir “can operate on the
right wing or as an attacking midfielder, as well as up front”, and
the Sun predicts he will shine for his country in next month’s
World Cup.

The paper says that his agent has previously stated that
Fekir hopes “to join one of Europe’s top ten clubs in the near
future”, or failing that then perhaps Arsenal.

Fekir has been in red-hot form this season for Lyon, and
with the French club enjoying a good business relationship with
Arsenal having sold them Alexandre Lacazette last year for £52m, it
looks likely that Lyon will again “cash in” by selling another of
their prized assets.

Might there be a similar situation looming at Napoli, wonders
Italian outlet Calciomercato. 

They report that the club chairman, Aurelio De Laurentiis,
is growing increasingly anxious that they might not be able to
persuade Dries Mertens to pen a new deal. The Belgium
international’s current deal expires in 2020 and try as they might
Napoli have failed to reach an agreement.

That’s because he’s apparently aware of the interest of
Arsenal and Manchester United, who consider his £25m release clause
a bargain, and the striker will make a decision this month before
jetting to Russia to take on England in the World Cup.