The Athletic have reported that Arsenal Technical Director Edu personally tried to sign Tottenham Hotspur target Lautaro Martinez.
What’s the story?
According to The Athletic, Arsenal wanted to sign Martinez from Inter Milan in the summer transfer window.
It was the Gunners’ Technical Director Edu who ‘spearheaded’ the club’s interest in the 24-year-old striker, described by his Argentina international teammate Lionel Messi as “spectacular”, “impressive” and “complete” in Mundo Deportivo in May 2020.
Arsenal were not the only club from North London who were keen on the Inter striker.
The Times reported in August that Tottenham had actually agree a fee of over £60 million for the former Racing Club star.
However, Inter eventually decided not to sell the striker.
Why?
Well, that’s because the defending Italian champions sold Belgium international striker Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea for £97.5 million.
Future transfer possible?
Arsenal and Tottenham are unlikely to stop their pursuit of Martinez.
It is very likely that the Gunners and Spurs will continue to monitor the Argentina international in the coming months.
Inter will be aiming to win the Scudetto again this season, and the Italian giants are unlikely to entertain any offers for the 24-year-old in the January transfer window.
However, next summer Arsenal and Tottenham could return for Martinez.
The Times reported that Spurs head coach Nuno wanted to sign a striker to play alongside Harry Kane, and Martinez does fit the bill, having played alongside Lukaku at Inter for the past two seasons.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be a year older next summer, and Alexandre Lacazette will also be out of contract, so Arsenal could definitely do with a new striker.
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