Arsenal and Man United set to miss out on Udinese youngster

Napoli look set to steal on a march on Manchester United and Arsenal in the race to sign Udinese hotshot Luis Muriel.

talkSPORT revealed last year that the Premier League pair have been tracking the 21-year-old, who has been labelled the ‘Colombian Cristiano Ronaldo’.

The forward, who joined Udinese from Deportivo Cali in 2010, burst on to the scene during a fruitful loan spell at Lecce last season, where he scored seven times in 29 Serie A outings.

Muriel has continued his good form back at Udinese, having scored four times this season, and Napoli are ready to bring him to the Stadio San Paolo.

Sources in Italy claim the two sides have already opened talks, with Napoli confident of striking a deal, having signed Muriel's compatriot Pablo Armero and Swiss star Gokhan Inler from Udinese in recent seasons.