Arsenal added Viktor Gyökeres to their squad this summer, after a drawn out saga with Sporting CP. Prior to his move to the Gunners, Napoli wanted to sign him.
This has been confirmed by the Naples club’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, during a chat with Corriere della Sera and Gazzetta dello Sport have relayed his comments.
De Laurentiis revealed that the Serie A winners’ plan was to sign the current Arsenal player last summer.
He appointed Antonio Conte as Napoli manager in June 2024 and that summer, Paris Saint-Germain wanted to sign Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
According to De Laurentiis, the treble winners offered €200m as a package for both Osimhen and the 24-year-old Georgia international. PSG weren’t able to sign the duo last summer but were successful in securing Kvaratskhelia’s services in January.
Napoli let the 26-year-old striker join Galatasaray on loan before selling him to the Turkish club this summer. The president reveals they had planned to sign the 27-year-old Swede but didn’t go ahead as Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia weren’t sold to PSG at the time.
“At the end of the second year of his [the Georgian’s] contract, there was the European championship in Germany,” he said.
“Manna, Chiavelli and I flew to Düsseldorf to resolve the situation, but Mamuka Jugeli [his agent] continued to stall, claiming that Giuntoli had promised him money that was never paid. A lie, easy to verify.
“I could have sold him at that point: PSG had offered over €200m for the Kvara-Osimhen package. However, I had promised Conte to keep him, and I didn’t feel right about it. The idea was to use those funds to buy Gyökeres.”
Gyökeres played a key role in helping Sporting win the title last season. This helped him secure a move to Arsenal and the striker made his debut in their 1-0 win over Manchester United on the opening weekend.