Arsenal wanted to bring Dries Mertens to the Emirates this summer

The Gunners have not enjoyed the best of starts to the Premier League season, with just seven points from their opening five games.

They appear to have somewhat bounced back from consecutive defeats away at Stoke and Liverpool, however, with two clean-sheets coming in a 3-0 home win over Bournemouth and a 0-0 draw away at champions Chelsea.

The biggest talking points for Arsene Wenger’s side in the summer transfer window were the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette and the sale of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool.

But, according to calciomercato, Arsenal were also interested in a deal for Napoli forward Mertens.

The Belgian caught Wenger’s eye last season with an impressive 34 goals helping the Italian outfit to a third place finish in Serie A.

He went on to pen a new deal at the Stadio San Paolo, though, killing any hopes Wenger had of bringing him to England in the summer.

Yet, Napoli’s inclusion of a £27m buy-out clause to ensure he prolonged his stay at the club means the Frenchman could go back in for him in January.

He will be able to assess Mertens in this season’s Champions League when Maurizio Sarri’s side take on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.