Arsenal Urged to Make £16m Move for Napoli Forward Jose Callejon

Arsenal have surged ahead in the race for Napoli forward Jose Callejon, with the Italian club offering him for a cut-price deal of £16m, according to the Daily Express.

The Spanish international joined Napoli from Real Madrid for £8m before the start of the 2013/14 campaign and has been an integral part of their success over the year.

However, their inability to make it to the knockout stages of the Champions League in 2013 and the group stages in the corresponding campaign has put his future under doubt, with the player unhappy with his situation at the Serie A club.

The player has reportedly communicated his disinterest to the club which has forced them to put him up for sale, in spite of having previously rejected offers of a much bigger scale from the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.

Should Arsenal make a move for the forward, he is likely to replace Lukas Podolski, who has recently expressed his dissatisfaction at being a peripheral figure at the north London club. The German is yet to start a single game thus far in the league and wants to make his way out of the club if the situation does not change over the next two months.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he is in the market for at least one more player in the January transfer, likely to be a defender given the Gunners' dire situation at the back. However, Podolski's departure will open up another position which may be capitalised on by the Frenchman to strengthen his squad and put in a concerted effort for the title.

"I agree we could have bought one more player. We didn't find [him]. We will try in December to rectify that because we are a bit short with the injuries we have and, overall, I think we will rectify that on the transfer market in January," Wenger said.