Transfer News: Arsenal made contact with Inter Milan star Lautaro Martinez amidst Tottenham Hotspur interest
According to Italian news outlet Calciomercato (h/t The Sun), Arsenal have made contact with Inter Milan star Lautaro Martinez amidst interest from Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the summer transfer window. His future at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium has been clouded for a while despite him being happy with his life according to his agent, Alejandro Camano.
Martinez had extended his current contract with Inter until 2026 last year. However, it seems that he could be in line to depart his club after this season. He could be moved out if they can bring in Paulo Dybala, who will become a free agent this summer. However, they will only sell the centre-forward if their valuation of around £58million is met by the interested parties.
The Gunners have been long-term admirers of Martinez, and they would look to target him at the end of this term. They have been in talks with the Argentine’s camp for that purpose but will need to deal with Tottenham, who are also in the race. Atletico Madrid have also been keeping tabs on the attacker, adding to the competition for his services.
Martinez to Spurs, Arsenal or Atletico?
Our interest in the 24-year-old depends on Harry Kane’s future as the former is lined up as a possible replacement for our talisman. As such, we may never formally register our interest if Kane decides to stay with us past this campaign. However, it is always good to have plans set up in the event of the worst-case scenario.
Martinez is a smart choice indeed, and his current asking price arguably seems to be reasonable looking at his contract length and the quality that he possesses. The Serie A superstar has 16 goals and two assists to his name from 39 appearances across all competitions this season. He has taken over the mantle following Romelu Lukaku’s departure and has led them in their attempt to retain the title.
Fabio Paratici must set things up to make a case for ourselves so that we do not fall behind Mikel Arteta’s side. After all, we would want to bring the Nerazzurri ace to N17 if Kane does end up leaving moving forward. We also need to be wary of Atletico, who also have the capabilities to pip us in this transfer race.
Then again, if Dybala does not join Simone Inzaghi’s side, we may not even have the opportunity to bring in Martinez- if needed. We are hopeful to see the best-case scenario where the England skipper would stay with us and be a key part of the project we are building under Antonio Conte.
However, if matters come to worse, we still have lots of obstacles to overcome to secure Martinez’s services. Not to mention, we also need factors outside of our influence to fall into place to help with our potential pursuit of the Argentinian. Let’s hope that we may not need to target him at all, which would be in our best interests under the current circumstances.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
- Transfer News: Tottenham Hotspur handed Hugo Ekitike price tag amidst West Ham United interest
- Tottenham Hotspur could sell Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as AS Roma plot transfer move
- Jorge Mendes lines up Darwin Nunez and Tammy Abraham as potential replacements for Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane
After all, why try and fix something that isn’t broken? Kane has resumed scoring goals on the regular ever since Conte came in. The move that would make the most sense for the Spurs faithful would arguably be if we try and bring in a player like Lautaro without losing Kane.
That is how a team strengthens and makes itself a title contender. Unfortunately, there is nothing to suggest that the club will take that route- no matter how much we may want them to as fans!
