Arsenal DID make a move to try and sign Kevin Malcuit from Napoli in January.

Arsenal were shopping around, looking for an affordable player to bring in to replace Hector Bellerin after the Spaniard’s knee died. One of the names to surface was that of Kevin Malcuit.

Malcuit arrived at Napoli in the summer for €11m and I said at the time we were linked with a move that his recent arrival in Naples would cause Arsenal problems and that’s exactly what his agent said happened.

Bruno Satin, who was speaking to Radio CRC, said, “I knew that after Bellerin’s injury the club was looking for a fullback, but Kevin was just arriving in Naples and playing more and more with Ancelotti, we did not take into consideration certain hypotheses.”

The 27-year-old is under contract until 2022 after his move from Lille. He has also played for Saint Etienne, FC Niort, Frejus St Raph, Monaco and OC Vannes.

This season he has one assist in 17 Serie A games. Hector has five assists in 19 Premier League games.