Arsenal have been in a fiery battle to sign Lille's Gabriel Magalhaes for quite some time now. Not only that but the Gunners do seem like the real favourites to bring the young defender to the Premier League.

However, it seems like Napoli are willing to make one last push for the player but will also need to gather more funds in order to do that. And this is where Manchester City come into play.

According to the latest report from Daily Mirror, Napoli have invited Pep Guardiola to sign the £60m-rated Kalidou Koulibly in the ongoing summer transfer window. We know the Citizens have been after the star defender and the Italians are open to selling him because it would give them the financial push for Gabriel.

The Gunners, on the other hand, are said to have already agreed a £17m deal with Lille but Napoli could still derail that with an improved offer of their own. But this will only happen when and if they sell Koulibaly to Man City.

Needless to say, this would be a huge blow for Mikel Arteta and co. and their success will largely depend on the Citizens' next move. At the moment, Guardiola doesn't want to spend too much on a new defender and that could give Arsenal a glimmer of hope in their own negotiations.

Either way, this is turning out to be quite a convoluted saga for all parties involved.

Verdict

Of course, Arsenal could try and seal the deal for Gabriel before Napoli can respond with a counter-offer. Maybe this is indeed the way to go because otherwise, this could easily turn into a bidding war.

And that's the last thing Arteta wants right now, especially in the current climate and the outside circumstances that will largely dictate the ongoing summer transfer window.