Unai Emery has just four days left to build his squad ahead of the new season. The Spaniard will be looking to add to his squad following the captures of Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba, Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe.
However, the club are facing up to a third straight season of Europa League football, and failure to seal qualification for Europe's elite competition means Emery's summer transfer budget was reportedly limited, with the club using loan deals and spreading the payment of transfer fees over a number of years in order to cleverly stick to the budget.
But, with the manager still looking to add more players in order to strengthen the squad, any extra cash will come as a welcome bonus to the club.
And this is where a former Arsenal youngster can help out.
Ismael Bennacer was sold to Empoli in 2017, and impressed for the Italian club last season, registering five assists in Serie A and has now completed a move to AC Milan, with Arsenal reportedly having a 30% sell-on fee clause. The Algerian has signed a five-year deal with the Italian club.
It is believed that the fee is €16m, meaning that Arsenal will receive a welcome fee of around €4.8m.
A move looked likely earlier in the summer when Empoli's president, Fabrizio Corsi, admitted in April that the midfielder was almost certain to leave.
"We say that there is an interest on the part of Napoli and we are happy that an important team is interested in him, Corsi said, as per CalcioNapoli1926 . "I think he can play in Naples, in Rome, and Inter.
"He has great dynamism, great feet, and a great personality."
The 21-year-old has just returned from African Cup of Nations action, where he was victorious with Algeria, helping his team to lift the trophy while also being named as player of the tournament.
