Wenger eyes Edinson Cavani and Wilfried Zaha

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that Napoli striker Edinson Cavani and Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha are on his transfer wish list.

The Frenchman has focused much of his attention over recent months on transfer negotiations with Theo Walcott but, with those talks believed to be nearing a positive conclusion, he has now started to look elsewhere.



Wenger is renowned for his reluctance to spend big on new recruits, with balancing the books as important to the Emirates boss as generating results on the field.



He is, however, aware of the need to strengthen during the winter window, helping to appease a disgruntled fan base, and has admitted that Cavani and Zaha are among those currently under consideration.



Wenger said: "Cavani is a player that I like.



"Will he cost a lot of money? That's for sure. Nobody would deny that. Our banker lives just next to me at the moment and he is ready if we find the right player."



On Zaha, who is also a target for Manchester United, he added: "We are looking at him, but at the moment we have not made any bid for him.



"I don't know if Manchester United are in for him. Anyway, if you call any club for any player, they will tell you Man United, Milan, Real Madrid are as well in for him, but it is always difficult to know if it is true or not."



On Zaha, he said: "We are looking at him, but at the moment we have not made any bid for him.



"I don't know if Manchester United are in for him. Anyway, if you call any club for any player, they will tell you Man Utd, Milan, Real Madrid are as well in for him, but it is always difficult to know if it is true or not."



Wenger is prepared to be patient in his pursuit of fresh faces, with it is opinion that it is often best to wait until the end of the window before making a move.



He said: "The prices always go up at the start of the transfer market and go down in the last week.



"Sometimes as well they go up in the last week, but it depends. Most of the time they go down in the last week and you know as well that 90 per cent of transfer activity happens in the last week, if not in the last 48 hours."

Napoli retain Balotelli hope

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis would prefer to see Mario Balotelli partner Edinson Cavani at the San Paolo than consider selling his star striker to Manchester City.



The Uruguayan forward fired Napoli back into third place in the Serie A table courtesy of a fine hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Roma, furthering his reputation as the envy of a host of top European clubs by bringing up his 20th goal of the season.



De Laurentiis has admitted rejecting a 55million euro (£45million) offer for Cavani from an unnamed club in the summer but revealed the 25-year-old does have a 63million euro (£51million) release clause in his contract.



City striker Balotelli has been mentioned as a potential makeweight should the Barclays Premier League champions look to bolster their forward line with Cavani, but De Laurentiis has other ideas.



He told Gazzetta.it: "City are considering letting Balotelli go so they can move for Cavani? I would prefer to see Balotelli playing with Cavani here at Napoli.



"Teams tend to hold onto their best players in January. You take a big risk making big investments now.



"There is still time for us to bring in new faces but we must be cautious. On January 31 you will see what moves Napoli have made."



Napoli's comfortable victory over Roma, in which Christian Maggio rounded off the scoring following Pablo Osvaldo's late response, sees the Campanian outfit return to the title race after suffering an uncomfortable end to 2012.



Four straight defeats in all competitions and a two-point deduction for alleged involvement in match-fixing saw Walter Mazzarri's men drift 10 points shy of league leaders Juventus.



Sunday night's win, coupled with Juve's surprise home defeat to Sampdoria, sees Napoli close to within two points of second-placed Lazio.



De Laurentiis added: "Are Napoli back on track? I say we have 39 points, 10 more than we had this time last year, because I'm not counting the two they took off us as a punishment.



"I think we'll get those points back and hopefully we'll get another 10 points on the pitch soon. Other teams have had a bad round and we can think about taking advantage.



"Napoli will definitely fight right until the end."



Meanwhile, European hopefuls Roma were left empty-handed and shell-shocked after being undone by Cavani inside 70 minutes.



General manager Franco Baldini told Gazzetta.it: "Cavani was the difference, he won the game, not only with his goals but because he both defended and attacked.



"He's not a candidate for the Ballon d'Or, because he is a no-frills player, but he should be among them. He's truly world class in this league."

Napoli Close in On Armero Signing

Udinese have confirmed that they are in advanced talks with Napoli over the sale of Colombian international Pablo Armero.



The 26-year-old was a target of Juventus over the summer, but it appears as though their Azzurri rivals have beat them to the signing.



“The deal is close to being defined,” Udinese President Franco Soldati told Radio Kiss Kiss.



“There are just a few details to iron out before it can be made official. Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon is in Udine to sort a few things out with the player’s agent.



“Pablo would do well to change scenery. He’s been on the edge of the side in recent weeks and hasn’t shined so far this season.”



“He’ll be able to express himself better in Naples and he’ll be able to give a lot to the Azzurri cause.”



Initial reports state that Armero will leave in a co-owership deal for €4 million before signing a four and half year contract with the Partenopei.



Armero, a 26-year-old left-sided player, will replace Andrea Dossena in the Napoli squad as the latter is set to join Palermo.



The 31-year-old Italian will only be allowed to leave the Azzurri once Armero’s signings is made official.