Unai Emery faces a battle to secure the signature of Fiorentina midfielder Jordan Veretout who is reportedly on the verge of a summer move to Napoli instead.
The Frenchman has been linked with Carlo Ancelotti's side for the past few weeks, however a delay in completing the deal has seemingly allowed other clubs to try their luck.
L'Equipe reported that Arsenal are the latest club to show an interest in Veretout, who has previous experience of the Premier League having endured a difficult spell with Aston Villa.
Veretout would potentially be the man to fill the void left by the departed Aaron Ramsey, with Emery looking for a box-to-box midfielder to bolster his options.
Emery will be planning changes to his squad during the close season after the club failed to achieve Champions League qualification, with their transfer budget believed to be around £35 million.
Fiorentina have placed a €20 million price tag on the 26-year-old, who scored five goals with four assists from 37 matches during the previous campaign.
He is contracted to the Italian side until 2021 and with Roma and Sevilla also showing interest, Fiorentina will be hoping to get a substantial transfer fee.
However, it is believed that Veretout would favour a move to Napoli above all others because he wants to play Champions League football and test himself at the top level.
This is all according to the Metro who say that should Emery miss out on Veretout, he might turn to another Serie A side for a new midfielder.
One man who is reportedly on Emery's radar is Dennis Praet of Sampdoria, who was Lucas Torreira's midfield partner before his move to North London.
The Spaniard is supposedly keen to add a centre-back, full-backs and a winger to his squad ahead of the 2019/20 season which recommences in August.
