Arsenal Transfer News: Latest on Mauro Icardi and Gonzalo Higuain Rumours

Arsenal are reportedly poised to miss out on a pair of Serie A striker targets after it emerged Napoli will launch a move to sign Inter's Mauro Icardi if Gonzalo Higuain completes his switch to Juventus.

According to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis met with Icardi's wife and agent, Wanda Nara, on Saturday to discuss a transfer (h/t Football Insider's Dominic Toner).

Ciro Fusco/Associated Press

The Naples outfit could soon have the space and funds necessary to make their move for Icardi following reports Higuain will join Serie A champions Juve after triggering his release clause.

Sky Sport (h/t Tom Doyle of the London Evening Standard) reported Juventus recently activated Higuain's €94 million (£78.7 million) release clause. Doyle provided quotes from Argentina and Napoli legend Diego Maradona, who wrote on Facebook:

"

This Higuain affair is hurting me because he is going to a direct rival like Juventus. But we cannot blame the player either.

A player has a responsibility to himself and it is those fat cats of business that are grinning the most in this case. Nobody thinks of the fan. 

I'm tired of saying that today it seems to be more important to be a good businessman than a good president. This did not happen in my time. Too bad that Fifa continues to sleep.

"

Arsenal appear to have fallen way behind in the pecking order to recruit either Icardi or Higuain, and the pair now both look likely to remain in Italy's top flight past this summer's transfer window.

The Naples exit seems only a matter of time for Higuain at this point after Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri posted images of precisely how some Napoli fans had taken out their anger—aimed at the forward:

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger may now be forced to revise his options if he did plan on signing a striker this summer, with Olivier Giroud still the club's primary frontman after netting an Arsenal best of 24 goals last season.

OptaPaolo provided evidence that Napoli would be getting their hands on a very capable replacement if they were to sign Icardi as a successor to Higuain, who broke the record for goals scored in a Serie A season last term (36):

Arsenal are in need of reinforcements, too, after Danny Welbeck suffered a knee injury in May that Sky Sports' Paul Vinnell reported was set to keep him sidelined for nine months.

According to Fabrizio Romano of the Guardian, Icardi's agent, Nara, was again set to meet with Napoli on Sunday in an attempt to force through a move to the Stadio San Paolo:

Wenger informed ESPN FC's Mattias Karen Arsenal will spend big this summer, but only if the right opportunities were to come their way.

It's the kind of storyline many Gunners fans have grown accustomed to hearing in years gone by, and while Italy's giants splash their cash this summer, the north Londoners' search for a striker looks set to endure.