Inter Milan are seeking a fee of around €90million (£77million) for striker Lautaro Martinez amid new links with a move to Arsenal.
That’s according to Tuttosport, who claim that Atletico Madrid had proposed a deal worth around €35million (£30million), but Inter want much, much more.
Their asking price stands at a whopping €90million (£77million) for Martinez, with Atletico seemingly nowhere near being able to pay that kind of money.
Arsenal also want to sign Martinez, and The Athletic reported over the weekend that the Argentinian would be interested in a move to the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners surely aren’t in a position to pay such a huge fee for Martinez, especially having just splashed the cash on Brighton and Hove Albion defender Ben White.
Arsenal had floated the idea of using Alexandre Lacazette in a part-exchange deal for Martinez, but that doesn’t solve Inter’s issue.
They need cash to balance the books, so inserting a player into the deal isn’t going to help the Serie A champions sort out their problems.
Arsenal would likely need to sell a host of players to fund such a deal, and a few could feasibly go.
Hector Bellerin, Granit Xhaka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Lacazette himself could go, but that may take some time – and the prospect of signing Martinez will only lessen as the transfer deadline draws closer.
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