€80m ‘offer’ from Arsenal for forward revealed as Gunners eye Spaniard on a free

Arsenal made a huge offer for a striker in the summer transfer window and are now eyeing a free transfer, according to reports.

The Gunners brought in major reinforcements in the last transfer window with deals for Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko their biggest buys.

That saw expectations rise ahead of the new season but Mikel Arteta and his side have handled that brilliantly, winning ten of their 12 matches so far this season and sitting top of the Premier League table.

It could’ve been an even better summer window for Arteta if they had got another striker over the line with presenter of Campania Sport on Canale 21, Umberto Chiariello, claiming the Gunners lodged an €80m bid for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.

He insists that Napoli made the correct decision not to accept offers for the Nigeria international – who has scored seven goals in eight Serie A appearances this season –  in the summer.

“Luciano Spalletti’s team, in the best of predictions, was given fifth, while I saw them ready to bite Milan. It is a team that has been re-established,” Chiariello said.

“De Laurentiis went ahead with his vision: lower salaries, the confirmation of Victor Osimhen after Arsenal’s offer of €80m and the bet on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who played in Serie C, [Dinamo] Batumi, a championship, the Georgian one, which is like the Serie C.”

“Georgia itself, among the national teams, is in Serie C. Even Michel Platini, when he came to Italy, did not crawl the ball for months and there was talk of a wrong purchase. Zinedine Zidane also had problems for six months. but not Kvara.”

Arsenal have also been linked to Benfica full-back Alex Grimaldo in the past and Portuguese newspaper Record claims the chances of the Spaniard – whose contract expires in the summer – signing a new deal at the club ‘remains a distant scenario’.

Record declares Arsenal as one of the clubs interested in signing Grimaldo, while Barcelona, Juventus and Chelsea are also named as possible destinations.

Arsenal retook their place at the top of the Premier League on Sunday by beating Nottingham Forest 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium, but there was one negative, with Bukayo Saka coming off injured in the first half.

When asked if Saka could be a doubt for the World Cup, Artetea said: “Hopefully not.

“It was a bad kick. Right from the beginning he was limping, but I don’t see any further than that. Let’s see how he is in the next couple of days.

“He got kicked a few times and he wasn’t comfortable.”

READ MORE: Transfer gossip: Arsenal join race for Championship star, Man Utd linked with Sporting teenager