Reports are out that Arsenal is set to miss signing Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi this summer as the Argentine striker had scheduled to meet with Italian Serie A squad Napoli regarding a possible transfer.
Icardi and his camp are said to be on their way to Naples for a meeting with Napoli's senior officials after Partenopei recently expressed their interest in signing the 23-year-old forward.
It was reported that the club, represented by team president Aurelio De Laurentiis, director of sport Cristiano Giuntoli, and general manager Andrea Chiavelli will convene with Icardi's wife and agent, Wanda Nara, in Verona as Gli Azzurri had eyed the Argentine to be their replacement for disgruntled goalscorer Gonzalo Higuaín, Football Italia reported.
Serie A champions and Napoli's number one rival Juventus is rumored to be preparing a massive €90 million swoop of Higuaín, Icardi's countryman, who is said to be keen on moving out of the Stadio San Paolo after the team fell short of snatching the Scudetto away from the five straight Italian domestic winners.
Napoli is keen on reaching a deal with Icardi's camp first before approaching I Nerazzurri for a formal offer of activating the Rosario, Argentina native's buyout clause, which is believed to be more than €50 million.
However, the report noted that "there is a major issue of image rights" of Icardi, which is "something De Laurentiis is determined to have and which often causes problems with contract negotiations".
Laurentiis is rumored to be willing to let Icardi keep 50 percent of his image rights while the club gets the remaining half just to land the striker to their fold next season.
Meanwhile, the Daily Express indicated that Arsenal "could be facing another transfer blow" as Napoli had overtaken them for the signature of Icardi, who had been their target since the beginning of summer.
The Gunners had already gone through major rejections this offseason when Leicester City turned down a €24 million offer for Jamie Vardy in early June and Napoli also recently beating them out for Higuaín's services.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is still in search for an additional striker to boost the club's attacking options in the coming term as his current strikers on disposal - Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, and Danny Welbeck - have all struggled for consistency last season.
